Nehaal gave her first concert at age 11
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Young Pakistani singer Nehaal Naseem appeared on Dananeer Mobeen's podcast 'Girls Only' and shared her music journey which she had started at the tender age of 11.
Talking about it, she said, "The backstory is basically there was a food fest where they wanted extras. The food festival required a long drive from Islamabad to Lahore but her father did not consider that a barrier when it came to letting his daughter flourish on stage.
"My dad said, don't worry, I'll take you to Lahore," said Nehaal fondly. With conviction, she added, "I love my parents!"
Nehaal said that when she reached there no one at the festival appeared to have been expecting her and said 'Who are you?'
"When I went, they said, 'Who are you? There's no performance for you!'" Rescuing Nehaal's crushed dreams, however, someone in charge appeared and granted her the opportunity to sing for five minutes.
"Out of nowhere, this man came and said, 'You can sing one song, I'll give you five minutes. To her – and everyone's – surprise, however, that one song proved to be a crowd-stealer.
"A lot of people started coming towards the stage, and I ended up doing three songs!" gushed Nehaal. "I was really happy! That was my first ever concert!"
As one of the country's rising young stars, Nehaal has come a long way from that 11-year-old on stage being grudgingly granted five minutes on stage at a food festival.
As well as releasing her own music, in February this year she collaborated with sibling duo Aashir Wajahat and NAYEL on the viral song 'Sadqay'.
Despite receiving lukewarm critical reviews, the song has garnered 35 million views on YouTube since being released and appears to have resonated with fans.