Haider Ali is a singer-songwriter, and an art director, also recognized as haidertonight, and known for appearing on the (Season 8, Episode 1)^[1] of the Coke Studio on August 16, 2015.^[2]

Haider Ali was born on July 12, 1994, in Islamabad, Pakistan, the son of Hina Shirazi, a professional interior designer and artist, and Ali Raza, a marketer and a general contractor. He is of Southern Asian, Persian, and Italian descent. He has two older sisters and one younger brother. He grew up in a receptive, disciplined, and very contemporary family system. Ali often found himself drawing imaginary things in thin air that he would later put onto a piece of paper, a knack for art that he got from his mother from a very young age. Bored and unmotivated at the Army Public School, the young Ali was a rather shy and sensitive child who found a safe haven in art and music classes, and his interest later sprouted into a full-time career.^[3] Ali was only eleven years old when he first began taking guitar and singing lessons, after which most of his musical edification came from the books of the legendary British author and BBC World Service producer, Nick Freeth.^[4] He was also in a few bands as a teenager with his younger brother, Hasnain Ali^[5] – one being Dying Desperation and another, Through Tonight. Ali recognizes Michael Jackson^[6] and Metallica^[7] as having been his main musical influences as a child, with Pete Loeffler,^[8] Slash,^[9] and James Hetfield^[10] being the reason he wanted to play the guitar.

Starting on the stage at the age of 15, Ali made his live debut on May 4, 2010, for a British Council charity event in Islamabad, Pakistan, raising money for the orphans of the devastating earthquake that shook Southern Asia in 2005^[11] — for his contribution to the relief efforts, Ali was given the award of appreciation by the director of British Council program development and occupied territories, Martin Daltry.^[12] Having won the award, Ali became inspired to get engaged in the humanitarian causes and raised awareness for climate change, taking significant action with the help of Youth Parliament of Pakistan and the British Council, he was able to make a positive impact on habitat management, native tree restoration, and environmental damage control projects in the local communities. ^[13]

After performing a series of both local and national shows during the summer of 2011, Ali went to the United States to record his debut single titled “Missing Puzzle” with Dying Desperation at a studio in Los Angeles, California. The single was released on December 14, 2011, and received quite positive praise by the fans and critics alike.^[14] This was the beginning of Ali’s newfound recognition as a prominent young talent, however, his rise to fame was about to take a major halt. On October 28, 2012, Ali suffered a spinal cord (lumbar vertebrae) fracture during a Jiu-jitsu training session,^[15] followed up by a 5th metacarpal fracture on his right hand due to punching a door during an altercation just a month later.^[16] Being unable to play the guitar and or perform day to day activities, the succession of critical injuries forced Ali to go on a hiatus, one which would subsequently put him through a lengthy period of anxiety and depression.

Though having mental and physical constraints, Ali was still able to fight through and used the healing phase to his advantage by focusing on his education and finished graduating from the Capital University in March 2014. During the two-year haul, Ali also rekindled his passion for art through the medium of photography and participated in the prestigious International Photography Awards (IPA) in July 2015,^[17] and won two Honorable Mention Award(s) commissioned by the chair of the jury committee (IPA), Susan Baraz,^[18] and President (IPA), Hossein Farmani,^[19] within the Architecture-Industrial^[20] and Fine Art-Still Life^[21] categories respectively. What came next would become a breakthrough moment in his career. On August 16, 2015, Ali made his live television debut on Coke Studio, the most coveted music show in South Asia for emerging artists.^[22] He had the opportunity to represent the house band on (Season 8, Episode 1) of the show, and performed guitar duties for, Atif Aslam’s^[23] session — one that turned out to be the most viewed episode of the show’s history — with having over 250 million views on YouTube.^[24]

Inspired from his experience, Ali took a step back to further hone his artistic skills by shifting the creative focus to be more honest, and with this came a new perspective for the young artist as he decided to attend Michigan State University (MSU) to earn a diploma in professional photography in April 2016, followed up by another diploma in graphic design from the California Institute of Arts (CalArts) in September of the very same year.^[25] Coming out with freshly acquired skills, Ali found himself experimenting between photography and design elements and was able to create his distinctive style^[26] in the process which landed his photography a feature at the first annual Coursera Capstone Alumni — Kresge Art Center exhibit on November 29, 2016, hosted by professor photography (MFA), Syracuse University (SU), Peter Glendinning,^[27] and associate professor photography (DMA), University of Illinois (UIUC), Mark Sullivan,^[28] at Michigan State University (MSU).^[29] Ali’s photograph titled “Tanning Egg” was featured at the exhibit among the works of 127 photographers from 39 countries.^[30] On June 9, 2017, Ali was (once again) distinctively recognized on the Coursera Blog — Learner Story series for his outstanding achievements in professional photography and graphic design specializations from Michigan State University (MSU), and California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) making him an artist worth noticing.^[31]

Having come to understand his perceived calling as the voice for the voiceless within his generation, Ali has continued utilizing key examples drawn from his own life experiences.^[32] Though shared emotional semblance, Ali discloses his struggles, fears, and insecurities in the hopes of igniting a universal connection with his followers^[33] as he seeks to open the doors for his genuine sound and show who he truly is as an artist.^[34] Ali is working on his most honest and self-reflective music to-date, with a release expected in late 2020.^[35]