Biography

Born in 1971, Habib Qaderi is a singer/artist from Afghanistan. He is one of the new Afghan generation of exiled artists who has achieved fame not only in the country but also outside of Afghanistan. Although widely popular in his homeland, he has not gone back to perform since gaining celebrity status. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California, from where he continues his music career.

Habib Qaderi, one of the most popular artists from Afghanistan, son of Sultan Aziz Qaderi, was born in Afghanistan. His father held a high-ranking position in the pre-communist government. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Habib’s family fled the country to India in 1983. At this time, he was in sixth grade at Sheerno Junior High in the Karte Parwan district of Kabul City. According to his account, it was in India that he became interested in music. Initially experimenting with tabla (hand drums), he learned the basics of this fundamental musical instrument and subsequently became familiar with harmonium.

In December 1985, Habib and his family moved to the United States, settling in Los Angeles. In 1989, he graduated from Costa Mesa High School. In the intermittent four years, little is known of his entertainment involvements. After high school, his aim was to get an education in Management Information Systems. Additionally, he took many music classes in Orange Coast College. However, his passion for music reversed his priorities, and he began singing professionally, overturning his Orange Coast College plans.

After performing at various private events, he finally recorded his first album Chadar-e-Gulnaar in 1994. Although not a huge commercial success, this album was nonetheless Habib’s formal entry into the music business. At this time he expanded his performances in weddings and concerts to achieve wider appeal. However it was not until his third album, Aros Gulha (1998), that he gained notability. In this album, Habib invited the Iranian singer Leila Forouhar to sing the title song with him in a duet. Whether her contribution or Habib’s talents was the success factor is contested. Regardless, with the release of the breakthrough album Golden Dream (2001), he became an overnight superstar. The songs on this album became hit singles and were played on various TV and radio stations in Afghanistan.

With the album Mehmaan-e-Yaar (2003), his fame finally ripened into maturity. While Habib figured he had a successful album on his hands, he wanted to create a visual experience to go with the music. He joined TriVision Studios, who released the inspirational Ehsan Aman DVD a few years earlier, and created the DVD titled Journey. Journey was an ambitious DVD project that took almost 3 years to complete and included a 90 minute documentary with 8 music videos from the Mehmaan-e-Yaar album along with concert material and behind-the-scenes footage all produced by TriVision Studios. Mehmaan-e-Yaar sold over one million copies in Afghanistan, and the companion DVD Journey is widely regarded as an important milestone in Afghan entertainment culture. His next album For My People (2006) was also a great success.

Habib Qaderi has recently finished working on his new music video called "Kajak Abro" which is produced by Xtudio Productions and Ramish Films. It was released early this year (2008). In March 2008, he was awarded as Afghanistan´s most influential artist of the year, among the artists such as Farhad Darya, Haidar Salim, Ehsan Aman and Najim Nawabi. His beautiful "Praise Allah" song was awarded for the best religious song of the year. In March 2008, he released his latest album "CLOSER", which includes a variety styles of music, such as Pop, R&B, classic, and Folks. Habib's latest music video "Kajak Abro", was awarded the best music video of the year, by the national afghan Television, Ariana TV, early this year.