Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab has been making waves in the Western music scene since last year, starting with the honour of being the only Pakistani to bag two Grammy nominations. This year, she is the only Pakistani artist invited to perform at Coachella, a music festival that is also featuring the likes of rapper Kayne West, singers Billie Eilish and Harry Styles as well as Swedish House Mafia to name a few.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual rock festival that is held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the United States and brings together top musicians from around the world.

The singer took to her personal Instagram account to share the news as well as the schedule for Coachella, which was met with widespread praise from superstar Mahirah Khan to singer and producer Faisal Kapadia.

The music festival was originally supposed to be held in March 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic. Despite the organisers' best efforts, they could not revive it by October 2020, leading to the event being canceled for the first time in at least 20 years.

The music festival could not be held in 2021 either and has finally been slated for April 2022 despite a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases around the globe.

Even though Aftab’s talent is just being recognized in the West, with former US president Barack Obama also swooning to her song “Mohabbat” from her third album, Vulture Prince, she has been around the music scene for more than a decade now.

Her rendition of Hallelujah is still a treat to listen to, although it was recorded and put online more than ten years ago. As is this version of Man Kunto Maula from October 2010.

Here is wishing the artist all the very best for the future and for her performance at Coachella.