Naghma

Naghma Pashto: نغمه ښاپېرۍ‎
Naghma singing during the 2010 Nowruz celebration at Fairplex in Pomona, California
Background information
Birth name	Shaperei (Fairy)
Born	01 January 1964
Origin	Kandahar, Afghanistan
Genres	Folklore, Pop
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Afghan Vision Records, Ariana Records

Naghma (Pashto: نغمه, born 1 January 1964) is a prominent Afghan singer who started her career in the early 1980s. She and her ex-husband, Mangal, were a popular musical duo who dominated the Afghan music scene during the 1980s and early 1990s. Naghma sings in Pashto and Dari (Persian). Her music is popular in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. She is one of the most popular female celebrity in Afghanistan and continues to be the voice and face of Pashtun traditional music.

Naghma was born as Shaperai (Pashto: ښاپېرۍ meaning Head Fairy) on 1 January 1964, in Qandahar, Afghanistan. She was the eldest daughter in a family of five boys and three girls. Her father's name was Syed Suleiman Shah and her mother is Bibi Mashala. Her father died when Naghma was five years old. As a young girl, she developed an interest in music. She used to sing for her school band in Ayno Lece in Qandahar. At sixteen she moved to Kabul with her paternal uncle. She continued her secondary education at Rabia Balkhi Lece where she also was performing in the girl's band as a vocalist. A year before finishing her High School she married Mangal, an already popular Pashto singer from Laghman, and consequently left school to advance her musical career. They were instant celebrities, recording hits that are famous to this day. In Mangal she found a husband who was not only encouraging of her music but was training her and refining her musical taste. Even after their divorce, Naghma maintains that Mangal was the most important person to her career and understanding of music.

Her early songs were based on Qandahari music, most of which were folkloric in nature. Coming from a traditional family, she met with much resistance from relatives who saw singing as taboo for Afghan woman. Naghma has often stated in interviews that till today her mother is still not happy with her career choice. However, Naghma was not discouraged by this. In Mangal she found a supporting husband and as duo the pressure from society was much more bearable as opposed to being solo. Like many other Afghan families, the Russian invasion and the subsequent Afghan civil war forced Naghhma and her family to exile. She settled in Pakistan for a period of 7 years and eventually settled in The United States in the year 2000. She resides in Kabul, Islamabad and California, United States where her children still live.

With impending civil war, the couple left Afghanistan for India in 1992. Eventually they settled in Islamabad, Pakistan. There, they became very successful with an enthusiastic crowd of Afghan exiles who were nostalgic for their native music. Their financial situation by this time had improved significantly. In 2000, they left Pakistan and immigrated to the United States.

After establishing contact with the Afghan community of northern California, the duo held a series of performances. In 2006, after years of ups and downs in their marriage, the couple divorced. Though no specific reasons have been shared by the couple, some believe Mangal's alleged alcohol abuse was the reason for why the marriage dissolved. The couples have held a dignified silence about their divorce and never mention anything relating to it in public. Their divorce has also cast a doubt as to whether this former pair can reconcile at least on a professional level. While Mangal performs solo in private events and television programs, Naghma is continuing her career as a professional artist. She is known to be very patriotic of Afghan culture and has dedicated many songs to Afghanistan.