Junoon

Junoon was borne in Salman Ahmad's mind. Western rhythms mixed with Eastern styles fused together form the core of Junoon. The passion and fury from the guitars of Brian O Connel and Salman Ahmad, the extrodainary vocal acrobatics by Ali Azmat fuse to define the word "Junoon" which translates to "passion" and "obsession"


In 1990, Salman Ahmed met Ali Azmat, a striving vocalist for the then start up band "The Jupiters" which were riding on the pop / rock wave which overtook pakistan in the early 90's. They formed Junoon along with Nusrat Hussain, who eventually parted after their first album and was replaced by Brian O Connell, a high school friend of Salman Ahmad.

Their first self titled album was a instant hit. Their next album Talaash was released a year following their previous list, though there was only one instant hit, Heeray, what a hit it was. The song propelled Junoon on to the world stage with their first ever music video which was repeatedly telecasted on MTV Asia and then later Channel [V].

The follow up to Talaash was Inquilaab, a huge local success. It placed Junoon far above any artiste(s) in Pakistan. Junoon were ready to launch at this point in their career. Their music changed from being based on drum beats to the traditional tabla, and from rock-style guitar chords to more traditional tunes. All combined to what is now known as "sufi-pop" a new genre exclusive to Junoon.