Muhammad Ali Jahangir, better known as Balam, is a Bangladeshi singer, guitarist, composer, performer and producer. He used to be the lead guitarist for the band Warfaze. Later he introduced himself as a proficient solo singer. In 2019 he joined LRB as a lead vocalist.
Personal life
Balam was born on 24 Dececember 1975 in Jhigatola, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is the first son of Quazi Jahangir Hafiz and Roxana Jahangir. His two elder brothers, Babar Jahangir and Bappy Jahangir, are in the United States. He has a younger sister, Julee. Balam is married to Shagufta Farook Sadia; they have a son, Fabiyanno Jahangir.
Career
Balam started his career by forming the band Renegades after graduating from secondary school in 1995. He was the lead guitarist and main vocalist. The band published two albums - Onno Bhubon and Firiye Dao. Balam also worked as a guest artist in popular bands like ARK and Pentagon. Three years later, he joined Warfaze as the lead guitarist and the second vocalist. In 2002, Sunjoy and Babna had to leave the band due to their personal reasons. Balam got a promotion and became the lead vocalist. He produced hit singles like "Jadutare", "Nei Tumi", and "Somoy" as a part of the Band. Maharaj was another hit album during this phase; most of its songs were produced by him. Balam published his first featured album in 2005 which was Prem Shikari and made him prominent. In 2007, he left Warfaze and pursued a solo career. His debut solo album was self-titled and was a big hit both at home and abroad. He became a strong competitor of the then leading singer Habib Wahid. He continued with the successful albums Balam II and Balam III. During this period he also published two duet albums on which his sister Julee sang in his composition. After 2010, he took a break of three years as his wife Sadia was unwell. In 2013, his long-awaited fourth solo album Bhubon was released. However, as the whole country was unstable politically, this album couldn't get into the spotlight. Balam became disappointed as all his hard work had been in vain. He stopped working on new songs. Kaushik Hossain Taposh, the CEO of Gaanbangla Television inspired him to come back. Balam came back very strongly with his first HD music video "Meghey Dhaaka". It received a huge response, and he started working regularly. "Koto Je Khujechi Tomay" was another successful duet music video. In 2017, Balam published his fifth solo album, Golper Shohor, one of the most streamed albums on the Yonder music app. However, Yonder went bankrupt and suspended their services, which was shocking news to the Bangla music lovers. They came back but could not continue due to several reasons. At last Banglalink brought out another music app, VIBE, which got a number of popular artists including Balam, Habib, Shafin Ahmed, and Pritom Hassan to sign contracts. Being an ambassador, Balam published several songs like "Hothath", "Adore" and "Khola Akash", where he featured artists like Dilshad Nahar Kona and Anika Tasnim. "Hothath" was later republished as a music video and drew the attention of music enthusiasts. Now Balam is active in the music industry and publishes his new songs through this app. Besides singing, he has also acted on two TV dramas and hosted a number of TV programs. He has also started the record labels and production houses Zero Records and The Industry in association with Kaushik Hossain Taposh and Adit Rahman.
