Biography of Aryana Sayeed
Aryana Sayeed
by S. Ghilzai / Published on November 11, 2014
Last updated by Amina Hashimi on August 15, 2018
Aryana Sayeed is an Afghan singer-songwriter. She was born in 1985 in Kabul to a Pashto speaking father, and a Dari (Persian) speaking mother. Aryana Sayeed left her country when she was eight years old. Her family migrated to Switzerland via Pakistan and it was in choirs in her Swiss schools that Sayeed realized she wanted to make a career out of singing. In 2008, she released her first single “MashAllah”. However, only after the release of her song “Afghan Pesarak”, Sayeed became a household name among Afghans. She was then asked to be a guest judge on The Voice of Afghanistan, a reality game show finding the best singer in the country. Sayeed also got her own show called Music Night, where she would perform and interview other artists.
Sayeed is very active on social media and is not shy about making comments criticizing conservative culture in Afghanistan. Her actions and the types of photos she posts on social media have made many draw comparisons of Sayeed to American celebrity Kim Kardashian.
On May 13, 2017, during a concert in Paris, France, Sayeed sparked a firestorm within the Afghan community when she wore a skin-colored dress. She was criticized by many Afghans on social media as being “naked” on stage. They called her “shameless” and that she was “dishonoring” Afghanistan. She responded by posting a video of her burning the dress on Facebook with the caption: “Today we resolve one of the biggest current problems of Afghanistan so we can start focusing on other bigger problems! 😉 It should be noted that the reason for this action of mine is not the pressure of those who still live in dark ages but to raise further awareness in regards to important issues within our society. -Aryana”
On July 14, 2018, Aryana Sayeed became engaged after her manager, Hasib Sayed proposed to her on stage during a concert in Melbourne Australia. He called her one of Afghanistan’s heroes, before getting on one knee to ask her hand in marriage.
Aryana Sayeed has released over 20 singles in her career and holds concerts around the world. She sings mostly in Dari, however she has also recorded in Pashto.