Arooj Aftab becomes first Pakistani woman to win a Grammy, says ‘I think I’m gonna faint’; Mahira Khan congratulates her

Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab has bagged her first-ever Grammy, becoming the first Pakistani woman to receive the trophy. Arooj won the award for her song Mohabbat in the Best Global Performance category. (Also Read | Grammy Awards 2022 live updates)

“@Arooj_Aftab’s Mohabbat wins Best Global Music Performance at the 2022 #GRAMMYs. Aftab is the first Pakistani woman to win a GRAMMY and is also nominated for Best New Artist,” a tweet read on the official Twitter account of Grammys.

After receiving the award, she said, “I think I’m gonna faint. Wow, thank you so much. I feel like this category in itself has been so insane like Burna Boy, Wizkid, Femi Kuti, Angélique Kidjo…”

Taking to Twitter, Mahira Khan shared an article on Arooj’s win. She wrote, “So so proud! Shine on you crazy star @arooj_aftab.” Arooj was also nominated in the Best New Artist category. The award was won by singer Olivia Rodrigo.

News agency AFP quoted her as saying backstage at the pre-gala ceremony, “I am beyond thrilled. It feels great. I’ve been very nervous all day. And we’re off to a good start.”

Arooj moved to the US in 2005 to study music at the Berklee College of Music. She released her first album Bird Under Water in 2014. The 37-year-old has been steadily gaining global attention for her work that fuses ancient Sufi traditions with inflections of folk, jazz, and minimalism.

Born to Pakistani parents in Saudi Arabia, Arooj spent her teenage years in Lahore before relocating to Boston to study musical production and engineering at the prestigious Berklee School of Music.

She released her third studio album Vulture Prince to critical acclaim and gained even more attention after former US President Barack Obama included the track Mohabbat on his 2021 summer favourites list.

Arooj has performed at a number of major New York venues including Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, also opening for Mitski at The Brooklyn Steel in 2018. Speaking to AFP in the days leading up to the Grammys, Arooj praised her fellow artists nominated for Best New Artist, a crop that includes Olivia Rodrigo along with rappers Saweetie and The Kid Laroi. “We’re all so cool — the group itself is kind of like a win,” she had said.

with AFP inputs