"Yaar Bina" (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: یار بنا, literal English translation: "without a friend") is a song by the Pakistani

sufi rock Sufi rock or Sufi folk rock is a subgenre of rock music that combines rock with classical Islamic Sufi music traditions. It emerged in the early 1990s and became widely popular in the late 1990s in Pakistan and Turkey. The term "Sufi rock" was co ...

band Junoon, released in April, 1997. It is the fourth track from the band's album fourth album, '' Azadi'' (1997), released on

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

. Written by lead guitarist and founder of the band

Salman Ahmad Salman Ahmad (, born 12 December 1963) is a Pakistani born-American musician, rock guitarist, physician, activist, occasional actor and professor at the City University of New York. He earned nationwide popularity in 1998 for his unique sty ...

and writer Sabir Zafar, it is one of the lead

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

's on the album, the other being " Sayonee", the song uses blending of rock guitars and bluesy vocals with eastern elements like the use of

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

s, raga-inspired melodies and traditional

Pakistani folk music Pakistani folk music refers to the local genre of folk music that originates from Pakistan. Major folk singers *Malika Pukhraj (1912 - 2004) (sang in Kashmiri language, Kashmiri Dogari Pahari language) *Tufail Niazi (1916 - 1990) (sang in Punjabi ...

. The unexpected success of "Yaar Bina" and "Sayonee" in 1997 propelled ''Azadi'' at the local and international music charts, within three months of the release of ''Azadi'', the album had sold over half a million copies and hit platinum sales status in a record of four weeks. The single was a hit in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, topping all music charts in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The success of the single led the album being the band's highest selling album in South Asia and Junoon received a platinum certification for hitting platinum sales for their album. Also, the success of the album led the band winning the 'Best International Group' title at the Channel V Music Awards, where they performed along with worldwide icons

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...

and

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...

.Junoon to perform at MTV Awards
Retrieved on April 19, 2011. ''Azadi'' was nominated for 'Best International Album', having achieved the prestigious honour of being the highest selling album in

and

that year. Although the song received many critical plaudits, it is one of the most well known and popular tracks by Junoon, also listeners and critics have continued to praise "Yaar Bina" as one of the greatest rock songs of all time in Pakistani music industry.

Track listing

Yaar Bina

Personnel

;Junoon *

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Ali Azmat Ali Azmat Pacha (born 20 April 1966) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He is best known as the lead singer for the influential Sufi rock band Junoon and for his subsequent solo career later followed by a career as an act ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

* Brian O'Connell -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

;Additional musicians *Ustad Aashiq Ali - Tambourin, Tabla

References

{{Junoon 1997 singles Junoon (band) songs 1997 songs Songs written by Salman Ahmad EMI Records singles Pakistani rock songs