Adnan Sami

His most notable instrument is the piano. He has been credited as "the first musician to have played the santoor and Indian classical music on the piano". A review in the US-based Keyboard magazine described him as the fastest keyboard player in the world and called him the keyboard discovery of the nineties. He was raised and educated in the United Kingdom. He was previously a Canadian citizen, but became a naturalised Indian citizen in 2016. The Times of India has called him the "Sultan of Music". He was awarded the Padma Shri on 26 January 2020.

• Name — Adnan Sami • Birth Name — Adnan Sami Khan • Born — 15 August 1971 • Birthplace — London, England • Awards — Padma Shri • Genre — * Filmi, Classical, jazz, pop rock, fusion • Occupation — * Musician • Singer • Music Composer • Concert Pianist • Television presenter • Actor • Instrument — * Piano, keyboard, guitar, accordion, saxophone, violin, drums, bongos, congas, bass guitar, electric guitar, tabla, dholak, harmonium, harpsichord, santoor, sitar, sarod, percussion • Years Active — 1986–present • Origin — England

Sami was born in London, England on 15 August 1971. He was raised and educated in the United Kingdom. His father, Arshad Sami Khan, was a Pakistani Pashtun with roots in Afghanistan while his mother Naureen Khan was an Indian from Jammu. Adnan's father served as a Pakistan Air Force pilot, before becoming a senior bureaucrat and serving as Pakistan's ambassador to 14 countries. His paternal great-great-grandfather, General Ahmed Jan, was from Afghanistan and a military advisor to king Abdur Rahman Khan. His paternal great-grandfather Agha Mehfooz Jan was the governor of four Afghan provinces under King Amanullah Khan's reign and was also the King's first cousin, while his paternal grandfather Abdul Sami Khan served as the Deputy Inspector General of Police. Agha Mehfooz Jan was assassinated by Habibullah Kalakani and therefore Sami's father's family migrated to Peshawar, then in British India. Sami attended Rugby School in Rugby, West Midlands, UK. Adnan followed his bachelor's degree with a law degree (LLB) from King's College London. He went on to qualify as a barrister from Lincoln's Inn, England. He had played the piano since the age of five and composed his first piece of music when he was nine years old. Sami began taking lessons in Indian classical music from the santoor maestro Pandit Shivkumar Sharma when visiting India during his school vacations. Indian singer Asha Bhosle saw him at age ten at an R. D. Burman concert in London, and encouraged him to take up music as a career. He is an accomplished concert pianist, music composer and singer with a command of Indian and Western classical/semi-classical music, jazz, rock and pop music. As a teenager, Adnan, when performing on the piano on a TV program in Stockholm, was described by the US-based Keyboard magazine as the fastest man on keyboard in the world and the keyboard discovery of the nineties. Sami went on to learn Indian classical music from Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, the Santoor maestro in India. At the age of sixteen, Sami was approached to write a song for famine-hit Ethiopia, for which he won a special award from UNICEF. In his career of 32 years, Sami has won many international awards including the Nigar Award, Bolan Academy Award and Graduate Award. Adnan is the youngest recipient of the Naushad Music Award for Excellence in Music. Previous recipients of this award include Lata Mangeshkar and Music Maestro Khayam. Sami was invited as a member of the jury of the music festival Voice of Asia competition held annually at Almaty, Kazakhstan.

• Illustration — Adnan Sami at the release party for his album Kisi Din

His first single, "Run for His Life", was released in 1986. It was in English, and recorded for UNICEF. It went to No. 1 in the music charts in the Middle East. This was followed by three more No. 1s: "Talk to Me", "Hot Summer Day" and "You're My Best Kept Secret". His first formal album, The One & Only (1989), was a classical album on the piano accompanied by tabla maestro Zakir Hussain. He released his first vocal solo album Raag Time in 1991. In 2000, Asha Bhosle collaborated with Sami on a collection of love songs named Kabhi to Nazar Milao in India. The music was also composed by Adnan. The album became an instant success and topped the Indipop charts for most of 2001 and 2002. According to Business Week magazine, the album sold 4 million copies in India alone. His second studio album, Tera Chehra, was released in October 2002 to critical acclaim. The music videos for this album were shot by Binod Pradhan, who had shot the popular 2002 Hindi film Devdas. The album features Bollywood stars Rani Mukerji in the title track and Amitabh Bachchan in the track "Kabhi Nahi", who also sang the duet with Sami. Actress Mahima Chaudhry was also seen in another song. The title track was written by well-known Hindi movie lyricist Sameer. According to Screen Magazine, it was the only successful pop album of the year. Sami's Tera Chehra broke sales records by becoming India's best-selling album of 2002 (including film soundtracks), continuing its No. 1 position in 2003, and by becoming the best-selling Indian album of all time (including film soundtracks) in the U.S. and Canada. The album stayed in the No. 1 position in all the music charts of India from the time of its release in September 2002 for over a year, beating his debut album's No. 1 record. His most successful albums have been Kabhi To Nazar Milao (with Asha Bhosle) and Tera Chehra, and his music videos usually have had Bollywood stars in them, including Namrata Shirodkar ("Bheegi Bheegi Raat"), Mahima Chaudhry, Raveena Tandon, Rani Mukerji ("Tera Chehra"), Govinda, Fardeen Khan, Amisha Patel ("O Meri Jaan"), Bhumika Chawla ("Maahiya"), Dia Mirza ("Pal Do Pal") and Amitabh Bachchan (Kabhi Nahi). He has composed film music for several other Hindi films, including Lucky: No Time for Love, Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke, Dhamaal, 1920, Chance Pe Dance, Mumbai Salsa, Khubsoorat, Sadiyaan, Shaurya and several others.

In 2005, he suffered from lymphoedema and developed an abscess in the knee, which interrupted his career. In 2006, he took a sabbatical and reportedly lost 130 kg.

As a classical concert pianist, Sami has given solo performances before royalty such as the King of Sweden and King Hussein of Jordan. He has performed before heads of state and governments such as President Mitterrand of France, the President of the United Arab Emirates, the President and Prime Minister of India, the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan, the President and Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, the Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, the Prime Minister of Sweden and Princess Christina of Sweden. Adnan has performed for music festivals to sold-out stadiums of his solo concert tours all over the world in over forty countries.

Sami wrote a song for India during the 2003 Cricket World Cup. The video of this song captures the nationalistic spirit of competition, depicting Adnan performing with the Indian cricket team with guest appearances from Indian film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Fardeen Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

He hosted the Indian version of the American music game show Don't Forget the Lyrics! called Bol Baby Bol on the Star TV network in 2008. Prior to that in 2005, he was the sole jury for the singing competition program on Channel [V] called Super Singer. In 2011, Adnan returned as a judge on the singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs, which became popular worldwide.

In 2002, Pepsi Foods made Sami its brand ambassador in India, a contract which involved hosting a series of live music concerts across cities as well as featuring in ads for Pepsi products. He is the only artist in all of Asia and Europe to have endorsed Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola together.

Sami first married to actress Zeba Bakhtiar in 1993, with whom he had a son named Azaan Sami Khan. They divorced after three years. Sami began living in India since 13 March 2001, on a visitor's visa which was extended from time to time. In 2001, Sami married Dubai-based Arab Sabah Galadari. This was his second marriage and Sabah's second marriage as well; she had a son from her previous marriage. This relationship also ended in divorce, a year-and-a-half later. In June 2006, he weighed 230 kilograms (506 lb); he claimed his doctor had given him just six months to live. By diet and exercise, he lost 120 kg in 16 months. In 2008, his wife Sabah returned to Mumbai, remarried him and began living with him, but the marriage only lasted one year, after which Sabah filed for divorce again. In 2009, his father died of pancreatic cancer, which he described as the "biggest blow" of his life, saying that he had been extremely close to his father. On 29 January 2010 Sami married Roya Sami Khan, the daughter of a retired diplomat and army general. He first met Roya in India during her visit in 2010 and proposed to her after some time. On 10 May 2017, he became a father to a daughter, Medina Sami Khan. On 26 May 2015, he submitted a request for Indian citizenship to the Ministry of Home Affairs, when his Pakistani passport expired (he also held Canadian citizenship at the time), as the Government of Pakistan declined to renew his passport; he had lived an adequate number of years in India that made him eligible for Indian citizenship hence he naturalized as an Indian citizen. In late December 2015, the Indian Home Ministry approved his request for legal status as a citizen of India, effective as of 1 January 2016. In an interview with Rajat Sharma on Aap Ki Adalat, which aired on 31 May 2025, Sami shared about his experiences about being denied Pakistani visa to visit his mother's funeral, which he watched on video call, and criticized the Pakistan Army and intelligence agency ISI for brainwashing youths into committing acts of terror across India while referring to the Pahalgam terror attack and the November 2008 Mumbai terror attack, besides looting the nation and begging for donations to fund their objectives. Sami also labeled Pakistani politician Fawad Chaudhry a joker for the latter's lack of credibility. Additionally, Sami expressed gratitude to the Government of India and the audience for giving him recognition, and credits Asha Bhosle for supporting his career and hosting him when he moved to India. Furthermore, Sami also expressed about being a foodie and showing himself as a hopeless romantic through his music.

• Sargam (1995) • Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)

• Year — Film — Songs — Co-singers • 1995 — Sargam — "Aae Khuda, Aae Khuda, Jis Nay Ki Justuju" • "Suhani Rutt Ayi, Mann Jhoomay" — Hamid Ali Khan, Hadiqa Kiyani • "Pall Do Pall Kay Hayn Andheray" • "Bheega Hua Mousam Pyara" • "Chamki Kiran, Khilay Purwa" — Hamid Ali Khan • "Kab Sey Khili Ho" (Classic music vs Pop music) — Maharaj Ghulam Hussain Kathak, Hadiqa • "Kya Hay, Yeh Uljhan Kya Hay...?" — Hadiqa Kiyani • "Zara Dholki Bajao Gorio" — Asha Bhosle • "Pyar Bina Jeena Nahin Jeena" — Hadiqa Kiyani • "Barse Badal, Dil Mein Halchal" — Hadiqa Kiyani

• Year — Film — Songs — Co-singers • 2001 — Ajnabee — "Tu Sirf Mera Mehboob" — Sunidhi Chauhan • Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar — "Kuch Pyar Bhi Kar" • Deewaanapan — "Nach Nach Nach" — Falguni Pathak, Sukhwinder Singh • 2002 — Junoon — "Aankhon Ne Kiya Ishara" – (Duet) — Kavita Subramaniam • "Aankhon Ne Kiya Ishara" – (Male) • Ab Ke Baras — "Mujhe Rab Se Pyaar" — Anuradha Sriram • Awara Paagal Deewana — "Ya Habibi" — Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan • Chor Machaaye Shor — "Ishqan Ishqan" — Karsan Sargathiya • Shakti: The Power — "Dil Ne Pukara" — Alka Yagnik, Ravindre Sathe, Prakash • Hum Tum Mile • Pyaasa — "Tere Pyaar Ka Chhaya" — Sunidhi Chauhan • Annarth — "Bewafa Bar Mein" — Pinky, Preeti • Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar — "Indian Se Aaia" • Karz: The Burden of Truth — "Aashiqui Ban Ke" — Kavita Subramaniam • Saathiya — "Aye Udi Udi Udi" • 2003 — Love at Times Square — "Aaja Aaja" • "Raat Hai Jawan" • Calcutta Mail — "Kahan Pe Meri Jaan" — Pamela Jain • Chori Chori — "Ruthe Yaar Nu" — Sabri Brothers • Koi... Mil Gaya — "Jadoo Jadoo" — Alka Yagnik • Boys — "Boom Boom" — Sadhana Sargam • Joggers' Park — "Ishq Hota Nahin Sabke Liye" — Zameer Kazmi • Janasheen — "Nashe Nashe Mein Yaar" — Sunidhi Chauhan • Sssshhh... — "Dheere Dheere Hua" — Alka Yagnik • 2004 — Plan — "Kaise Kaise" — Sunidhi Chauhan • Tum – A Dangerous Obsession — "Kyun Mera Dil Tujhko Chaahe" • Muskaan — "Yaad Aayee" • Yuva — "Baadal" — Alka Yagnik • Chot Aaj Isko, Kal Tere Ko — "Pani Re Pani" — Sunidhi Chauhan • Naach — "Ishq Da Tadka" — Sonu Kakkar • Aitraaz — "Gela Gela Gela" — Sunidhi Chauhan • 2005 — Sehar — "Palken Jhukaao Na" — Alka Yagnik • Page 3 — "Mere Wajood" • Jurm — "Nazrein Teri Nazrein" • Lucky: No Time for Love — "Shayad Yahi To Pyar Hai" — Lata Mangeshkar • "Sun Zara" • Waqt: The Race Against Time — "Apne Jahanke" — Sonu Nigam • Koi Mere Dil Mein Hai — "Bahon Mein Nahin Rehna" — Asha Bhosle • Garam Masala — "Kiss Me Baby" • 2006 — Rehguzar — "Allah Hu" • Taxi No. 9211 — "Meter Down" • "Meter Down" (Rock N Roll Mix) — Guru Sharma (Remix) • Kachchi Sadak — "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" • Khosla Ka Ghosla — "Sayane Hai Janaab" • "Ab Kya Karenge Bhaiya" • Jaan-E-Mann — "Udh Jaana?" — Kunal Ganjawala, Sunidhi Chauhan • "Udh Jaana?" – Club Mix • 2007 — Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love — "Dil Kya Kare" • Life in a... Metro — "Baatein Kuch Ankahein Si" • Darling — "Saathiya" — Tulsi Kumar • "Saathiya" (Remix) • Dhamaal — "Chal Na Che Shor Machlein" — Shaan • "Dekho Dekho Dil Ye Bole" • "Miss India Martee Mujhpe" — Amit Kumar • No Smoking — "Jab Bhi Ciggaret" (Jazz) • Taare Zameen Par — "Mera Jahan" — Auriel Cordo, Ananya Wadkar • Return of Hanuman — "Blackhole" • 2008 — Shaurya — "Dheere Dheere" — Sunidhi Chauhan • Superstar — "Don't I Love Or Do I Love U" • U Me Aur Hum — "Jee Le" — Shreya Ghoshal • "Phatte" — Sunidhi Chauhan • "Dil Dhakda Hai" — Shreya Ghoshal • Mumbai Salsa — "Choti Si Iltija" • Tahaan — "Jee Lo" • Khushboo — "Kyon Hai Mujhe Lagta" • "Tum Jo Mile Humko" • "Kyon Hai Mujhe Lagta" – (Remix) • Money Hai Toh Honey Hai — "Awaara Dil" • Kidnap — "Haan Ji" • Gumnaam – The Mystery — "Ishq Ne Kitna" — Shreya Ghoshal • 2010 — Dulha Mil Gaya — "Akela Dil" — Anushka Manchanda • "Akela Dil" (Remix) • My Name Is Khan — "Noor E Khuda" — Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan • Click — "Click Click Click Click" — Shamir Tandon • Sadiyaan — "Taron Bhari Hai Ye Raat Sajaan" — Sunidhi Chauhan • Ek Second... Jo Zindagi Badal De? — "Hota Hai Har Faisala Ek Second Mein" • "Hota Hai Har Faisala Ek Second Mein" – (Remix) • 2012 — Rush — "O Re Khuda" — Javed Bashir • 2013 — 3G — "Bulbulliya" • 2014 — Kill Dil — "Sweeta" • 2015 — Bajrangi Bhaijaan — "Bhar Do Jholi Meri" • 2023 — I Love You — "Yeh Nazar" • 2025 — Param Sundari — "Bheegi Saree" — Shreya Ghoshal

• Year — Film — Songs — Composer(s) — Co-singers • 2004 — Shankar Dada MBBS — "Ye Jilla" — Devi Sri Prasad — Kalpana • Varsham — "Nizam Pori" — Suneeta Rao • Yuva — "Vachindha Megham" — A. R. Rahman — Sujatha Mohan • 2005 — Mahanandi — "Katthilaanti Ammayi" — Kamalakar — Sujatha Mohan • 2007 — Yogi — "Gana Gana Gana" — Ramana Gogula — Sudha • Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule — "Cheli Chamaku" — Yuvan Shankar Raja — Anushka Manchanda, Swetha • Shankar Dada Zindabad — "Bhoogolamantha" — Shankar Mahadevan — Gopika Poornima • 2009 — Jayeebhava — "Zindhagi" — S. Thaman — Andriya • 2010 — Love To Love — "Kanulo" — Colonial Cousins • 2011 — 100% Love — "Infatuation" — Devi Sri Prasad • Oosaravelli — "Nenante" • 2012 — Ishq — "Oh Priya Priya" — Anup Rubens — Nithya Menen • Julai — "Oh Madhu" — Devi Sri Prasad • Devudu Chesina Manushulu — "Nuvvantey Chala" — Raghu Kunche • Dhenikaina Ready — "Ninnu Chooda Kunda" — Chakri • Naa Ishtam — "Jillele Jillele" — Chakri • 2013 — Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde — "Neeve Neeve" — Anup Rubens • 2014 — Galipatam — "Hey Paaru" — Bheems Ceciroleo • Pandavulu Pandavulu Tummeda — "Guchi Guchi" — Bappa Lahiri • Power — "Devuda Devuda" — S. Thaman • Oka Laila Kosam — "O Cheli Nuvve Naa Cheli" — Anup Rubens • 2015 — Bengal Tiger — "Banchan" — Bheems Ceciroleo • Dynamite — "Char Sou Chalees" — Achu Rajamani • Temper — "Choolenge Aasma" — Anup Rubens — Ramya Behara • 2016 — Krishnashtami — "Love Is True" — Dinesh — Solo • 2017 — Luckunnodu — "What Da F" — Praveen Lakkaraju — Praveen Lakkaraju • 2018 — Ishtanga — "Arerey Maaye" — Yelender Mahaveer • 2019 — 90ML — "Natho Nuvvunte Chalu" — Anup Rubens — Solo • 2023 — Rules Ranjann — "Dekho Mumbai" — Amresh Ganesh — Payal Dev

• Year — Film — Songs — Co-singers • 2003 — Boys — "Boom Boom" — Sadhana Sargam • 2004 — Aaytha Ezhuthu — "Nenjam Ellam" — Sujatha Mohan • Sullan — "Kilu Kiluppana" — Premji Amaran, Pop Shalini • 2007 — Satham Podathey — "O Indha Kaadhal" — Yuvan Shankar Raja • 2009 — Siva Manasula Sakthi — "Oru Kal" • 2010 — Chikku Bukku — "Vizhi Oru Paadhi" — Sujatha Mohan • 2014 — Veeram — "Thangame Thangame" — Priyadharshini • 2023 — Farhana — "Or Kadhal Kanaa" — Goldie Sohel, Harini Ivaturi

• Year — Film — Songs — Co-singers • 2002 — Super Star — "Bittaku Bittaku" — Shweta Malviya • 2007 — Soundarya — "Sneha Preethi" • 2008 — Dheemaku — "Suryaane"

• Year — Film — Songs — Co-singers • 2005 — Makalkku (Malayalam) — "Chanjadiyaadi" • 2011 — Poley Poley Urey Mon (Assamese) — "Bor Bor Manuhor" • 2013 — Hridayanath (Marathi) — "Aika Re Aika Re"

• Sargam (1995) • Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke (2001) • Love at Times Square (2003) • Lucky: No Time for Love (2005) • Dhamaal (2007) • Mumbai Salsa (2007) • Khushboo (2008) • 1920 (2008) • Shaurya (2008) • Daddy Cool (2009) • Sadiyaan (2010) • Chance Pe Dance (2010)

His recorded confession was Islam. He was the child of Arshad Sami Khan. He married Zeba Bakhtiar.