LAHORE: The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) band, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army, is currently visiting Pakistan and making waves for its rendition of the hit Coke Studio song Pasoori.
The British High Commission recently shared a video on social media of the HAC band playing the song, which was widely shared and applauded.
In an X post earlier this week, the band said it was “proud to be working in Pakistan, providing musical support to His Majesty The King’s Birthday Parties at The British High Commission.”
“The band will perform at engagements throughout the week & are taking the opportunity to rehearse for the next few days.”
Pasoori is a Punjabi and Urdu-language single by Pakistani singers Ali Sethi and debutant Shae Gill that was released on February 6, 2022 as the sixth song of season 14 of Coke Studio Pakistan. It was the first Coke Studio song and the first Pakistani song to feature on Spotify's ‘Viral 50 - Global’ chart. It also featured in episode 4 of the Disney+ miniseries Ms. Marvel as well as on the soundtrack of the off-Broadway production, Monsoon Wedding The Musical (2023) directed by Mira Nair.
In August 2022, Pasoori became the third song in Coke Studio's 14-year history to reach 300 million views on YouTube and on October 14, 2022, with 410 million views on YouTube, it became the most-watched Coke Studio music video of all time.
“Pasoori has quickly become the identity of Pakistan's music. This was among the songs played at various stadiums in India during the World Cup to cheer for the Pakistan team, and a lot of Indian fans told me how they loved this song,” Pakistani sports journalist Faizan Lakhani wrote on X, resharing the HAC band version of the song.
“Can't stop listening to this on repeat!” the British High Commission’s communications director Pav Dhande said.
