Deeyah (born Deepika Thathaal) (born August 7, 1977 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian singer, composer and human rights activist of Pakistani Pashtun descent. Born to Sunni Muslim Pakistani and Afghan parents . She is often called the "Muslim Madonna" by the media. Her style contains elements of Pop, Metal, Electronica and World.
Deeyah was born as Deepika Thathaal, at Ullevål sykehus hospital and grew up in Lambertseter in Oslo. Later the family moved to Grønland in sentrum and later to Tåsen. She is the daughter of Sunni Muslim immigrant parents. Deepika Thathaal's father has a big family in Norway, originally from the province Punjab in Pakistan. Her grandfather was among the first Pakistani immigrants in Norway. He is regarded as one of the most respected Muslim elders in the Pakistani community in Norway. Both the family of Deeyah/Deepika's mother and father are Sunni Muslims .
Deeyah started in the music business at the age of 8. Deeyah's father being a music lover ensured that Pakistani/North Indian classical music was an essential part of Deeyah's upbringing. Deeyah was signed at the age of 13 releasing two critically acclaimed albums in her native Norway.
Deeyah started singing when she was 7 years old. She studied Pakistani and North Indian Classical music under Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan. According to Khan Deeyah is one of his best and favorite students who he is most proud of . Deeyah's first national TV performance was when she was 8 years old on the show Halv Sju. In 1992 she sang at the opening of TV2 in front of an audience that included Åse Kleveland and then prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. In 1992 Deeyah was taken on as a student by Ustad Sultan Khan.
In September 1995 she released her 2nd album through BMG/Arista. The music videos from this album caused uproar among conservative Muslims who claimed Deeyah was a bad Muslim for showing her uncovered back. She and her family were threatened, harassed and worse; during a concert she was attacked on stage. All this caused her to move to London in 1996 and to continue her career there in more safety. However she soon realised her past had caught up with her. Deeyah was working on an album in the late 90's when the chairman of Warner Music UK of 20 years who had signed Deeyah lost his job, resulting in Deeyah's contract being terminated. Her manager and friend Steven Fargnoli passed away due to an illness in 2001. Deeyah decided to give up her music career because of these circumstances, but her musical nature wouldn't allow her to do that.
These events made Deeyah even more determined to pursue music, which led to her working with Grammy winning producer Darin Prindle. Together they co-wrote and co-produced the double a-side single Plan Of My Own/I Saw You. However she was dogged with more controversy when these videos aired on music channels, causing Deeyah to take a break from the scene. She has also worked in Los Angeles on her videos and collaborated with LA rapper Young Maylay on the controversial single What Will It Be?. This video caused controversy and anger amongst the Muslim community as in the video she strips off a burka to reveal her bikini clad body.
One of the very few female students to train under the classical Pakistani music maestro Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and Ustad Sultan Khan.
- Some of the artists she has performed and collaborated with through her career are Jan Garbarek, David Lindley, Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan, Talvin Singh, Rick Nowels, A.R. Rehman, Knut Reiersrud, Adrian Sherwood, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Bonecrusher, Guy Sigsworth, Martyn Ware,Zakir Hussain, Nick Sillitoe, Audun Erlien, Reidar Skår, Inder Matharu Goldfinger, Ustad Nazim Ali Khan.
Currently Deeyah is in the United States working on a brand new album, having scrapped all previous material, working with various producers. Her new project will be unveiled in 2007.
Hoping things would be different for her in the UK she continued working on her music in London. In 2004 her first videos started getting high rotation on Asian music channels B4U and Zee TV . The more her popularity grew the more unpopular she became in some Muslim circles in the UK with the same controversy and problems haunting her in the UK as they did in Norway . The controversy in the UK started with the video "Plan Of My Own" which shows Deeyah dancing seductively with a male dancer, this caused outrage among some Muslims in England and brought on her the same harassment and threats as she received in Norway .
Scared and angry that this could happen to her again years on in a different country Deeyah lashed out with the song and music video for the song "What Will It Be?"
"What Will It Be?" was never intended as a commercial release it was just for protest and was not available for sale anywhere. After months of pressure from fans Deeyah agreed to have "What Will It Be?" out for limited digital release in the UK only
It has been claimed by the MCB, that death threats against Deeyah could have been faked or exaggerated in order to boost up her popularity.
Source: http://www.perfectpeople.net/biography/3921/deeyah.htm
