Junaid Jamshed was a Pakistani recording artist, television personality, fashion designer, occasional actor, singer-songwriter, preacher and a televanglist.
After graduating with a degree in engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshed briefly worked as a civilian contractor and engineer for the Pakistan Air Force before focusing on a musical career.
He soon began performing on various local university campuses before being noticed by pop singer Rohail Hyatt in 1983.
With the help of Hyatt and Nusrat Hussain, Jamshed was inducted into the singing group Vital Signs and signed a record deal with record executive and producer Shoaib Mansoor to his PTV Music Studio.
Jamshed first gained nationwide prominence and international recognition as group ‘Vital Signs’ vocalist in 1987 with the album ‘Vital Signs 1’. The album topped the music channel charts around the country. It included the number one single “Dil dil Pakistan” and “Tum Mil Gye”.
The commercial success of Vital Signs’ first album helped develop Pakistan’s rock music industry.
In 1994, he released his debut solo album ‘Junaid of Vital Signs’, which also quickly became a national hit, followed by ‘Us Rah Par’ in 1999 and ‘Dil Ki Baat’ in 2002.
In 2004, Jamshed left both his engineering and music careers and focused on his religious activities for Islam and reciting nasheeds on TV and releasing them on CD’s.
His debut religious album ‘Jalwa-e-Janan’ was released in 2005 and was followed by ‘Mehboob-e-Yazdaan’ in 2006, ‘Badr-ud-Duja’ in 2008 and ‘Badeeuz Zaman’ in 2009. Jamshed also owns a clothing boutique with the name “J.”, which has several outlets throughout Pakistan.
Junaid Jamshed, along with his wife, Ayesha and daughter Nahya, died on Wednesday when PIA Flight 661 crashed in Chitral enroute Islamabad. He was in Chitral for a Tablighi Jamaat mission and was returning to Islamabad.