Pakistani Artists Asim Azhar and AUR Kick Off North American Tour With First Canadian Performances

Two major Pakistani artists are performing for the first time in Canada tonight, January 23.

Pop singer Asim Azhar and R&B/hip-hop trio AUR are heading out on three dates across the country. The tour kicks off at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall this evening before heading to Vancouver's Hollywood Theatre on January 26 and Calgary's Bella Concert Hall on January 27. Then they travel south for a series of dates in the U.S, marking the first North American tour for both artists.

Both acts have amassed large listenerships online, with Azhar starting out sharing YouTube covers at a young age, earning him the nickname of Pakistan's Justin Bieber. He has since become one of Pakistan's biggest stars, with songs like "Ghalat Fehmi," which charted on Spotify's Viral 50 in 2021.

The title track from his new album Bematlab, released via Universal Music India, was an immediate hit on Spotify and YouTube.

AUR, meanwhile, are a newer act, formed in 2020 and garnering attention with breakout hit "Tu Hai Kahan," in 2023. Last year, Zayn Malik joined them on a remix of the track, building international momentum for the group.

The collab shows the cross-border appeal of the music, spreading in a way similar to Punjabi music across the world and in Canada, where there are over 2.5 million people of South Asian heritage.

Both acts are part of a new wave of pop and R&B from Pakistan that blends modern global sounds with Urdu poetry and folk. Asim Azhar was the first Pakistani artist to sign with Spotify's Global Ambassadors and the first to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards, and AUR have an increasingly international audience.

These two acts are joining forces as they both make their Canadian debuts, and there will surely be a very engaged crowd waiting to meet them.

Find tickets for the tour here.