Shehzad Roy

Shehzad Roy (born 16 February 1970) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, guitarist, activist, social worker, producer and humanitarian.

Shehzad Roy was born in Karachi on 16 February 1970 to Kabir Roy and Nazli Qamar.

His father was a businessman.

Shehzad Roy said in an interview to a major Pakistani newspaper that his father always encouraged him to do whatever he had his heart set on because his father wanted to play cricket in his childhood, but was not allowed to do so by his own father.

He finished his basic High School education in Pakistan Community School (Saudi Arabia).

He started his singing career in 1995 and has recorded six albums since.

Shehzad Roy released his debut album Zindagi in 1995.

After only two years his second album Darshan was released in 1997.

His third album Teri soorat was released in 1999.

His fourth album Rab Janey and fifth album Buri Baat Hai were released in 2002 and 2005 respectively.

Shehzad's sixth album marked his transformation from a singer of romantic songs to songs that reflected social issues.

He received the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) in 2005, Sitara-i-Eisaar (Star of Sacrifice) in 2006 and Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) in 2018 from the Government of Pakistan.

For his organisation's rehabilitation work after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, he was awarded the Sitara-e-Eisaar in 2006.

To promote cross-border cultural exchange with India, he sang a hit duet with Indian singer Sukhbir in 2005.

Being an ambassador to HBL Pakistan, Roy also serves as ambassador to Pakistan Super League, sponsored by HBL.

In 2006, Shehzad Roy brought Canadian rockstar Bryan Adams to Pakistan for a charity concert, Rock for a Cause, to raise funds for Shehzad Roy's Zindagi Trust and to aid the victims of the tragic October 2005 earthquake.

In 2007, Shehzad Roy came out with a musical collaboration between him and queen of Sufi soul, Abida Parveen.

The song, titled "Zindagi", was rooted on his venture 'Equality in Education'.

He has recorded many hit songs such as "Saali," "Teri Soorat" and "Kangna," but is most famous for his 2008 socio-political album Qismat Apney Haath Mein.

Roy is also the president and founder of Zindagi Trust, a non-government charitable organisation, that strives to improve the quality of education available to the average Pakistani.

Roy has produced and hosted two documentary series, Chal Parha, about the state of public education in Pakistan; and Wasu aur Mein, which follows the travels of Shehzad and a villager and deals with issues like progress, poverty and patriotism in Pakistan.

He was also selected to be a torch bearer for the 2008 Olympic Games.

In 2008, Shehzad released his sixth album, Qismat Apne Haath Mein in Karachi's juvenile jail to draw attention to the nearly 70,000 prisoners in Pakistan who had been awaiting trial for years.

The first music video of the album, "Laga Rahe" was a political comment on the situation in the country at the time.

The call for the restoration of judiciary, increasing inflation and crime, price hike and the real politicking of corrupt politicians all featured in the video.

The title track "Qismat Apne Haath Mein" is about those less privileged in society and their state of suppression.

Akshay Kumar's film Khatta Meetha features a song by Shehzad on its soundtrack.

The song, titled "Bullshit" is a mash-up of two of Roy's most popular songs from his 2008 album Qismat Apney Haat Mein; "Laga Reh" and "Qismat Apney Haat Mein".

In 2011, Shehzad discovered Wasu Khan, a villager from Baluchistan, on YouTube.

In his video, Wasu raps about Pakistan's checkered political history.

After seeing this, Shehzad tracked down Wasu and they collaborated to produce the hard-hitting song "Apney Ulloo".

Packing a political punch, the video is a tale of the exploitation of a poor man.

In September 2013, Shehzad performed with Guns N' Roses at a charitable event turned rock show, with performances from Guns N' Roses' Matt Sorum and Slash and Macy Gray in Los Angeles.

Part of the proceeds of this event went to Shehzad's organisation Zindagi Trust.

The event reached its climax when, Roy, Slash, Sorum and Gray did covers of The Beatles' Come Together and Radiohead's Creep.

On 6 September 2014 Shehzad released a patriotic song "Mere Dhol Sipahiya" featuring Ayesha Omer.

It was dedicated to all martyrs and survivors of the Pakistan army who took part in War on terror; most specifically for the martyrs of Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

He released title anthem for 2017 Pakistan Super League "Ballay Ballay" on 30 January, on which he also performed in the opening ceremony on 9 February in Dubai.

He is also the ambassador to team Karachi Kings, and released an anthem "Dhan Dhana Dhan Hoga Re" for it on 3 February.

For 2018 Pakistan Super League, he also released an anthem "Lo Phir Say Miley" on 28 January and released a new anthem for the team Karachi Kings "De Dhana Dhan".