On Friday, one of the country’s top guitarists, Amir Zaki passed away at the age of 49 in Karachi. The death was confirmed by the brother of the deceased, Shahid Zaki. The cause of death was revealed to be heart failure after a period of prolonged illness.
Amir Zaki got into music at the age of 14 and by age 16 was recognized by Alamgir as a musical prodigy. Zaki accompnied him in his tour to Dubai, the USA, India and England. He also played in two of Alamgir’s albums; the hit single ‘Keh dena’ had young Zaki on the guitars.
Amir Zaki and Alamgir together for a reunion documentary
Of of the three bands Zaki formed, ‘Axe Attack’ had the first ever English album recorded in Pakistan and though it was never released in Pakistan due to refusal of Pakistani music companies, the album was well liked in Australia and gained Zaki quite a following. He also toured with other Pakistani Bands, most notably ‘Vital Signs’ and was even a part of their fourth album.
The guitarist also independently released a new album ‘Signature’ for which he received a ‘Gold Disc’ by Soundcraft UK. The album immediately catapulted to fame in Pakistan and made guitar instruments a household item because of Zaki’s massive success on the radio. The song “Mera Pyaar” was especially well liked by the public.
Tributes have already begun pouring in for the late guitarist on twitter. Pakistan indeed has lost a great talent.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>friend, teacher, musical genius and one of my favourite guitar players of all time, Aamir Zaki, has passed away in Karachi, so long brother</p>— Faisal Rafi (@faisalrafi) <a href=”https://twitter.com/faisalrafi/status/870639301037617152″>June 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”><a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aamirzaki?src=hash”>#Aamirzaki</a> felt the world doesn’t understand him. In my last conversation he had but one regret, I don’t have enough time to explain it all</p>— Rafay Mahmood (@Rafay_Mahmood) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Rafay_Mahmood/status/870644484157186050″>June 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Amir Zaki, famous guitarist and singer died. one of the best guitarist Pakistan has produced</p>— Azhar Abbas (@AzharAbbas3) <a href=”https://twitter.com/AzharAbbas3/status/870643395542241280″>June 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Amir Zaki, 90s Pakistani rock realist, died too young.</p>— Shayan Shakeel (@shayandahalf) <a href=”https://twitter.com/shayandahalf/status/870650114490216448″>June 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Oh God Aamir Zaki is no more what a loss what a tragedy … he was a great artist a wonderful human being … i… <a href=”https://t.co/obENVArYXh”>https://t.co/obENVArYXh</a></p>— Nouman Javaid (@noumanjavaid) <a href=”https://twitter.com/noumanjavaid/status/870649713556639745″>June 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
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We send our condolences to the family of Amir Zaki.
