About Deeyah

Deeyah, a critically acclaimed music producer and prize winning human rights activist, is known for her outspoken support of women’s rights, freedom of expression and peace.

Born in Norway to immigrant parents of Pashtun and Punjabi descent, she was steeped in the rich culture and arts of her parents’ homelands. People of all faiths were in and out of the house--artists, intellectuals and passionate political advocates mixed with friends and neighbors in a highly flavoured hospitable stew.

While her mother worked with women and children as both a teacher and translator, it was her father’s passion for music that first shaped her life. A musical enthusiast, he was a leader in the cultural exchange between Norway and Pakistan, and encouraged seven year-old Deeyah to study with Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan, who is recognized as one of the most prominent masters of the Khyal Musical tradition. Cultural tradition reserved these lessons for male pupils, but Deeyah persevered and impressed Khan with her vocal talent, discipline and dedication to music.  After several years of Ustad Fateh Ali’s mentorship, she was declared, “one of his favorite students.” Later Deeyah continued her apprenticeship with another master of North Indian Classical music, Ustad Sultan Khan.   After again proving her devotion to the art form through tests of character and skill, he would make the trip to Norway in order to give her lessons.

From an early age Deeyah’s unique musical abilities captured the attention of world-renowned musicians and music industry veterans.  At eight, she was immersed in a music career usually reserved for those three times her age.  She performed on television and at music festivals and by age 12, she was in the studio recording duets with Norwegian pop artists and participating in collaborations with folk and jazz legends like Jan Garbarek, David Lindley Ustad Nazim Ali Khan.  At 13, she signed her first recording contract.  At 15, she released her solo debut featuring Ustad Sultan Khan, Pakistani tabla legend Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan, and renowned Norwegian musicians Knut Reiersrud, Reidar Skår, Paolo Vinaccia, and Audun Erlien. The young Mercury Prize winning Talvin Singh accompanied her on her first national concert tour.

After moving to London, she continued working with world music genres and performing pop music as well.  Her success led to difficult confrontations with more Orthodox Muslims, whose threats eventually made it too dangerous to continue.

Deeyah's last album featured collaborations with Grammy winning pianist Bob James, Police guitarist Andy Summers, and acclaimed Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer.

Eventually, she stopped performing completely and turned her focus to producing and composing music instead. She now produces projects that combine her passion for art and activism as she continues to broaden her creative expression into film-making and digital media initiatives, driven by a commitment to human rights and social activism.

In 2007 she founded Sisterhood, an ongoing project designed to empower young Muslim women by encouraging artistic expression across creative disciplines.

In 2010, Deeyah created FUUSE media, which encompasses Fuuse Mousiqi and Fuuse Films. She also co-produced the critically acclaimed Listen To The Banned album with the program manager of Freemuse, Ole Reitov. The CD features artists from Asia, Africa and the Middle East who have experienced persecution, censorship or imprisonment for their artistic expression.

In 2011 she produced Nordic Woman, the first release in her WOMAN album series. WOMAN celebrates women’s voices within traditional music from around the world, while drawing attention to women’s rights issues in the region.  She also founded and launched Memini.co, an online commemorative site, to remember the victims of honour killings worldwide.

She is currently producing her first documentary through Fuuse Films, Finding Banaz, which addresses the phenomenon of honour killings within immigrant communities in Europe through the story of a young British Kurdish woman who was murdered by her family in London in 2006.

Deeyah’s human rights work includes her establishment of AVA, a non- profit public charity.  Ava means Voice in Farsi.  AVA provides avenues for women and young people to find their voices, encouraging participation within the greater human conversation.  By building awareness, education, research, and advocacy AVA engages the world’s women and young people as a force for change.  The initial emphasis is on people of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent.

Continuing her commitment to the issue of honour killings and honour-based violence, Deeyah co-founded HBVA (Honour Based Violence Awareness network) with Joanne Payton in 2012.  HBVA is an international digital resource centre working to advance understanding of Honour Killings and Honour Based Violence through research, documentation and information for professionals, teachers, health workers, social services, police, politicians, and others who may encounter individuals at risk.

Deeyah’s life and work is born of being a child of several cultures, being an international musical presence and experiencing the divisions and difficulties within her own life, her own family and her own career.  Her ever-growing belief that artistic expression is an essential language for being of service towards positive change to create a better world is a personal understanding and commitment.