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FINAL <strong>POWER</strong> 100 <strong>BOOK</strong> 2.59 TUE_Layout 1 14/02/2017 13:54 Page 21<br />
SALMAN AHMAD<br />
Music and UN Goodwill Ambassador<br />
Salman ahmad, one of South asia’s most<br />
influential cultural figures, is a musician,<br />
physician and United nations goodwill<br />
ambassador. with his wife, Samina, he<br />
launched an nGo called the Salman &<br />
Samina Global wellness initiative, focused<br />
on interfaith and cross-cultural dialogue,<br />
global health and wellness, and music<br />
education.<br />
ahmad popularized a blend of western<br />
rock music and eastern/islamic music that<br />
has been called “Sufi rock” and that has<br />
been hailed as a cultural bridge within<br />
South asia and between the east and west.<br />
Born in lahore, pakistan, ahmad spent his<br />
teenage years in new York before<br />
returning to lahore to train as a medical<br />
doctor.<br />
turning then to his true passion of music,<br />
ahmad founded South asia’s biggest rock<br />
band, Junoon, in 1990. the band faced<br />
death threats and harassment from<br />
religious extremists and government<br />
forces in its early years, but Junoon’s<br />
sweeping melodies, bhangra rock rhythms<br />
and driving guitars led it to become known<br />
as “the U2 of South asia.”<br />
Junoon has sold over 25 million albums<br />
worldwide and has shared the stage with<br />
artists such as melissa etheridge, alicia<br />
keys, Sting, earth wind and fire, and<br />
wyclef Jean. ahmad has recently cowritten<br />
and recorded a song with academy<br />
award winning artist melissa etheridge<br />
called ring the Bells.<br />
ahmad led Junoon in a 2001 performance<br />
at the U.n. General assembly hall, the<br />
first such rock performance in that hall. in<br />
2007 Junoon performed at the nobel<br />
peace prize ceremony in oslo. the group<br />
defied death threats from militants to<br />
perform in 2008 in the valley of kashmir,<br />
the first rock concert to be held in<br />
Srinagar.<br />
Hollywood actress<br />
Susan Sarandon also<br />
presented a<br />
documentary on<br />
Junoon for VH1<br />
titled, ‘Islamabad:<br />
Rock City’.<br />
Jon pareles of the new York times has<br />
described Junoon as “South asia’s answer<br />
to Santana,” and the wall Street Journal<br />
called Junoon’s eclectic music “a powerful<br />
combination of led Zeppelin and<br />
traditional South asian percussion like<br />
tabla and dholak.”<br />
ahmad has written a memoir for Simon<br />
and Schuster titled rock and roll Jihad<br />
(scheduled for publication in early 2010)<br />
and has written commentaries for the<br />
washington post’s “on faith” website. he<br />
is also a member of the Brookings<br />
institute’s US-islamic arts & culture panel<br />
for public diplomacy.<br />
ahmad has appeared on major television<br />
networks such as cnn, foX, aBc, nBc,<br />
al-Jazeera and al-arabiya and has been<br />
the subject of two documentary films:<br />
“the rockstar and the mullahs” and “its<br />
my country too” for pBS/wide angle<br />
and the BBc.<br />
hollywood actress Susan Sarandon also<br />
presented a documentary on Junoon for<br />
Vh1 titled, “islamabad: rock city.”<br />
ahmad is also a professor at Queens<br />
college (cUnY) where he teaches music<br />
and poetry from muslim culture.<br />
he received an honorary doctorate from<br />
the claremont Graduate University in<br />
2009.<br />
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