The Pakistan rock industry has been getting large over the years, New bands are coming in and bringing their own style on the mainstream. Raeth ’ s smash hits Bhula Do and Tumharay Liye have positioned Raeth as one of the best new rock bands in Pakistan and India. Launch across India by the world ’ s largest music label. The next big thing from Pakistan after Junoon, Strings and Jal

There are have been a number of successful American musicians of Pakistani origin ; they include Nadia Ali, rappers Bohemia and Mr. Capone-E, Junoon member Salman Ahmad, the Qaiyum brothers ( MCs GQ and JAQ ), as well as Explosions in the Sky guitarist Munaf Rayani.

In an interview, internationally acclaimed pop rock band Strings have acknowledged that Junoon has been influential to the band for making a comeback in the local music industry in 2000.

A few artists like Junoon, Mekaal Hasan Band and Laal have achieved commercial success and mainstream critical recognition.

In March, Zee TV invited Junoon to perform at the star-studded Zee Cine Awards in Mumbai, where the group received accolades from the crème de la crème of India's entertainment industry.

Visible from left to right are ; Ustad Ashiq Ali Mir and Salman Ahmad. Junoon formed in 1990 when Salman Ahmad, founder, songwriter and lead guitarist, had a dream where one of his teachers shook him and said " Tumhey mousiqui ka Junoon hai!

It was the release of their third album when Junoon started to gain success and began to reach a wider audience when one of their singles, " Jazba-e-Junoon ", became the signature song of the Cricket World Cup.

On August 9, Junoon performed at the Central Park in New York, this concert was one of most famous concerts done by the band.

* The festival was recreated for the song " Ik Junoon ( Paint it red )" from the 2011 Hindi film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

The Pakistani band Junoon popularised a genre of music called Sufi rock ( influenced from legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ) that blended traditional Pakistani folk and Sufi music with western rock.

Junoon ( Urdu: جنون, literal English translation: " obsession / passion ") is a sufi rock band from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, formed in 1990.

That year Junoon were courted for the controversial video release of the single " Ehtesaab ", from Kashmakash, which included footage of a polo pony eating in a posh restaurant.

Following the success of " Inquilaab ", in 1997 Junoon went on their first full-scale tour of the United States, performing from Birmingham, Alabama, to Los Angeles where they appeared at the House of Blues and at the New York's Roosevelt Hotel, which was reviewed in the international edition of Newsweek Magazine.

The Pakistani Government reacted by banning Junoon from performing in the country, as well as bans on the band's music being aired on Pakistani radio or television.

Travelling in the same gilded bus that Vajpayee had travelled cross-border to shake hands with Pakistan and sign the Lahore declaration, Junoon crossed the Wagah border from Lahore into India.

Junoon became the first Asian band to perform at the festival and performed along with many well-known bands and musicians like Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden, The Cure, Queensrÿche and many other well-known artists from around the world.

In April, Junoon performed to a sold out concert at the Wembley Arena in London and went on to perform at the " United for Gujrat " concert, the first South Asian rock concert, held in New Delhi along with bands from India and Bangladesh, singing together to raise funds for the Gujrat Earthquake victims.

On September 12, 2009, Junoon performed at " The Concert for Pakistan " along with other musicians from around the world which included, Outlandish, Sting held at the UN General Assembly Hall.

On November 30, Salman Ahmad, as Junoon, announced that the first single from the upcoming album will be " Love Can You Take Me Back ".

On their debut album Junoon and their second album Talaash, songs were written in both the English and Urdu languages, but since then the band has only written songs in Urdu, with the only exceptions being " No More " from the live album Junoon for Peace and the single " Piya ( Ocean of Love )", which is a duet with Morten Harket of A-ha.

As the band started to gain success after the release of their third studio album Inquilaab, Junoon went on their first full scale tour of the United States, performing from Birmingham, Alabama, to Los Angeles where the appeared at the House of Blues and from there to New York's Roosevelt Hotel, which featured in Newsweek Magazine.

PTV, the Pakistan state television, refused to show the audience even clips from Junoon releases.

On February 28, 1998, Junoon won the " Best International Group " title at the Channel V Music Awards, where they performed along with world-wide icons Sting, The Prodigy and Def Leppard.

Junoon performed at all three days of the Mela and performed at the BBC Asian Awards where they were also awarded for their " Contribution to Asian Culture ".

Junoon performing live at the Channel V | Channel V Music Awards in 1998. During the tour to India in 1997, Junoon saw crowds of as many as of 50, 000 fans at different venues.

Junoon won the " Best International Group " award at the Channel V Awards in 1998.

From Rushdi's pop hits to songs sung by the Hassan siblings, to bands including Junoon, Vital Signs, Hadiqa Kiyani, and Strings, Abrar-ul-Haq to Shehzad Roy the Pakistani pop industry has steadily spread throughout South Asia and today is the most popular genre in Pakistan.

Although Junoon's two other members, Ali Azmat and Brain O ' Connell, left the band in 2005, Salman Ahmad continues to perform as a solo artist under the " Junoon " label and has moved to New York.

On the other hand, Junoon has also been noted as a source of inspiration for other bands.

Goher Mumtaz, lead guitarist of Jal, has also shown fondness for Junoon and acknowledged that some early work of the band has inspired him.

While the music of Junoon is centered around a male lead singer, the band has also featured some female vocals on their albums ever since their self-titled debut release Junoon.

Junoon has also been awarded several awards for their contribution towards peace and South East culture by BBC, UNESCO and South Asian Journalists Association.

His novel, The Flight of Pigeons, has been adapted into the Merchant Ivory film Junoon.

Although Junoon's two other core members-Ali Azmat and Brain O ' Connell-left the band in 2005, Salman Ahmad continues to perform as a solo artist under the " Junoon " label and has moved to New York after his solo career failed to take off in Pakistan.

He maintains that there is no bass player or drummer competent enough to play with him, except Gumby, who has chosen to float along the mainstream tide with Junoon.

Junoon were presented with an award " Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace " by UNESCO.

Some of her notable films include Shyam Benegal's Nishant ( 1975 ), Junoon ( 1978 ), Susman ( 1986 ), and Antarnaad ( 1992 ); Satyajit Ray ’ s Shatranj Ke Khiladi ; Mrinal Sen ’ s Khandhar, Genesis, Ek Din Achanak ; Saeed Mirza ’ s Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai ; Sai Paranjpye ’ s Sparsh and Disha ; Gautam Ghose ’ s Paar ; Aparna Sen ’ s Picnic and Sati ; Mahesh Bhatt ’ s Arth ; Vinay Shukla ’ s Godmother.

Junoon is Pakistan's most successful band ; the Q magazine regarded them as " One of the biggest bands in the world " and The New York Times called Junoon " the U2 of Pakistan ".

Junoon were not an overnight success ; the band members struggled for the first few years.

We felt inspired to sing two anthems of our youth ; ‘ Jazba Junoon ’ and ‘ Dil Dil Pakistan ’.” The video of this unplugged session was released by EMI Pakistan's Youtube page.

In 2000, Junoon released a compilation of their albums and videos, Millennium 1990-2000, through Lips Music Records.