LOS ANGELES — Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist Arooj Aftab has won a Grammy Award for her song “Mohabbat” in the best global music performance category at Hollywood’s biggest music awards night.
The 37-year-old singer-composer has become the “first ever female Pakistani GRAMMY winner”.
“And the first ever female Pakistani GRAMMY winner is… Arooj Aftab Best Global Music Performance: Mohabbat,” read the post on the Recording Academy’s official Instagram page.
Born to Pakistani expatriate parents in Saudi Arabia, Aftab took to Instagram after she bagged the coveted gramophone trophy.
“Oh my gosh. I am so proud of this moment personally, but also for the industry itself,” Aftab, who works in various musical styles and idioms including jazz, minimalism, and neo-Sufi, wrote.
“… tonight we celebrated music as a collective, unapologetically making what we want to make in all its genre-less limitless crossover glory. Thank you and congratulations (sic)” she added.
Pakistani star Mahira Khan said she was “proud” of the award-winning musician.
“Shine on, baby! Shine on,” Khan wrote on her Instagram stories as she shared Aftab’s photograph.
Aftab’s song “Mohabbat” from the album ‘Vulture Prince’ has featured on former US president Barack Obama’s 2021 summer playlist.