Biography

Farhad Darya (Pashto/Dari: فرهاد دریا; born 22 September 1962) is an Afghan singer, composer and music producer who has written and composed songs in various languages which has received recognition from all around the world.

Darya sings in various languages including mostly his native language of Persian/Dari and Pashto but also in Uzbeki, Hindi-Urdu and English. He has earned affection for not only his music but also patriotism. He has a fan base that stretches from his native Afghanistan to others parts of South Asia, as well as Central Asia.

Farhad Darya was born in Kabul, Afghanistan to an ethnic Pashtun family originating from Kunduz Province. He is the grandson of Sher Khan Nashir.

He studied Persian literature while attending Kabul University. During this time, he wrote music for other artists under the pseudonym Abr (Cloud), and started playing Afghan and Indian classical music. He later left the university and enrolled in the Afghan Armed Forces.

In 1990 he immigrated to Germany and began singing again. After traveling through Prague and Hamburg, Darya arrived in Paris, where he would meet Sultana Emam. The two were married in 1993 and moved to Northern Virginia in the United States in 1995. A year later they gave birth to a son, Hejran Darya

Since Darya's television debut on Afghanistan's television network in 1980, he has released over two dozen albums. He founded a band, Goroh-e-Baran (meaning "Rain Band") with Asad Badie, which became one of the best known Afghan bands in the 1980s. Throughout his career Darya has sold over 2 million copies of albums – the acclaimed ones produced in exile, many of which deal with the Soviet–Afghan War and the resulting misfortunes of the war-torn nation. Most of the music is aimed at helping Afghans bringing peace and unity to their country, and deals with themes of national unity.

He released his Salaam Afghanistan album in 2003, with a DVD release of music videos in March 2004. While in the same year, Farhad had thrown a historical concert at Kabul Stadium where the Taliban used to execute Afghan citizens. The concert was recognized as 'ONE OF THE 50 GREATEST MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF WORLD MUSIC' by SONGLINES world’s leading magazine devoted to the field of world music.

In September 2006, Darya's new single Salamalek in a collaboration with German musician Peter Maffay was released, as part of Maffay's album Begegnungen – Eine Allianz für Kinder. It was Darya's first rock song