Zoe Viccaji (Urdu: زوئی وکاجی) (born 1983) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter and actress from Karachi.[2][3] She began her career as a backing vocalist at Coke Studio and later moved on to becoming one of the featured artists. Viccaji has released one studio album which received various accolades.[4]
Early life
Zoe Viccaji was born in Kharian, Punjab, Pakistan, to Adi Viccaji and Lynettee Viccaji, a Parsi father and Christian mother.[5] She was raised in Karachi, Pakistan. According to Zoe, she has been playing guitar and writing her own songs since the age of fifteen.[6][7] Singer Rachel Viccaji is her younger sister.[citation needed]
Personal life
Viccaji got married on December 23, 2018, to producer and director Kamal Khan [8] in Karachi, Pakistan. Her sister, Rachel Viccaji and fellow Coke Studio backup singer and actress Sanam Saeed, were among the bridesmaids in the traditional white wedding. The couple had another event the next day on the traditional Pakistani side of things.[citation needed]
Career
Zoe started her career at the age of seventeen by joining a local band named Ganda Bandas.[citation needed] A few years later she moved to the United States where she studied in Hamilton College, New York. She also worked in the stage musicals Mamma Mia! and Chicago, both alongside Sanam Saeed. After returning to Pakistan, she released her debut single "Thinking About You" in 2009. She joined Coke Studio in 2010 and collaborated with Strings and Bilal Khan and released the singles "Mera Bichra Yaar" and "Anjane" featuring Strings and Bilal Khan. "Mera Bichra Yaar" was nominated at the 11th Lux Style Awards for Song of the Year.[citation needed]
Zoe released her debut album Dareeche in September 2014 under Universal Music India.[citation needed] In 2015, it won the Best Mixed Album award at the Indian Recording Arts (IRA) in India and Lux Style Award for Best Album in Pakistan.[9][10][11][12] The album spawned a single “Phir Mili Tanhai”. Zoe stated in an interview that “Phir Mili Tanhai” was one of the first songs she wrote and was inspired by her real relationship. "Phir Mili Tanhai was one of the very first songs I wrote. In fact it’s a marker of the period when I turned to songwriting in the first place. I was going through my first major breakup with someone who I had been with for a very long time."[13]
