Deeyah

Deeyah was born in 1977 and raised in Oslo, Norway by parents who were amongst the first generation of Muslim Asians to immigrate to Norway (her mother’s heritage is Persian/Afghani and her father’s is Pakistani/Indian), where

Deeyah was born in 1977 and raised in Oslo, Norway by parents who were amongst the first generation of Muslim Asians to immigrate to Norway (her mother’s heritage is Persian/Afghani and her father’s is Pakistani/Indian), where she released two successful albums while still in her teens. She now calls London home, but has been dividing her time between the UK and the US where she has recently completed her latest album.

The first single from the album, “Plan of My Own,” was released in the UK January 31, 2005 and debuted in the Top 40, reached #4 on the Club Chart and #11 on the Indie Chart. The music video for the single, by John Lindauer reached #1 on The Box, the leading request music video channel in the UK. As was the case when Deeyah’s last album came out, her video has led to threats from conservative Muslims who are angry that Deeyah (herself a Muslim) appears in sexy clothes and dances with a black man. The resulting press coverage since the release of the video has been overwhelming to the point of overshadowing Deeyah’s music. For her safety, and in hopes of shifting the focus off of the “news story” and back on the music, Brainwash Records has brought Deeyah and her album to the US.