Pakistani pop has a clear starting gun: a teenager named Nazia Hassan, whose 'Aap Jaisa Koi' and Disco Deewane — made with her brother Zoheb Hassan — made pop a Pakistani art form around 1980.
The band era
Then came the bands. Vital Signs, with Junaid Jamshed, gave the country Tum Door Thay and its second anthem, 'Dil Dil Pakistan'. Junoon invented Sufi rock and conquered South Asia with Sayonee. Strings and Jal carried the melodic torch into the 2000s (Bikhra Hoon Main).
The global age
Out of that scene came the superstars: Atif Aslam, Ali Zafar, and a new wave led by Asim Azhar and the Coke Studio generation.
Browse the whole pop catalogue and more on Patari.