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Zack Knight
British-Pakistani singer-songwriter (born 1991) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Zack Knight (born 22 November 1991) is a British-Pakistani singer, songwriter and music producer. [1][2][3] Formerly known by the stage name Zeekay until 2011, he has released several popular songs, including "Bom Diggy", "Ya Baba", "Galtiyan", "Nakhre", " Rula Diya", and "Enemy".
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Life and career
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Knight was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, to a Pakistani Punjabi mother and a African father of Indian Bengali descent. He moved to Haywards Heath, West Sussex, in 1999, studying at Oathall Community College. He describes his music as having an R&B infused style with a crossover sound[4] which is influenced by Bollywood and Middle-Eastern music. He cites Michael Jackson, Boyz II Men, and Usher as his main inspirations.[5] Knight produces, composes, and engineers his own music.[6] He is multilingual, writing lyrics in English, Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi and incorporating elements of Arabic and Bengali.
2007–10: The Zeekay years
Using the stage name Zeekay or Zee Kay, Knight began his career primarily as a songwriter for such artists as Tinie Tempah, Ginuwine, Stylo G, IYAZ, and various X Factor contestants. In 2007, he wrote the single "Baby (Dil Deewana)" for the US R&B artist Ginuwine. Shortly afterwards, he started producing R&B and hip-hop singles. His debut single, "My Moment" (produced by Pcru, Flipnotez), released in 2008, reached #3 in the Myspace R&B charts.[7] This success led to a production deal with "Mr Skills", creator of Big Brova's, with whom he had been working on his debut album.[8] From here, Knight produced several other singles across the span of 2 years, including "In Denial" (which he performed at various Live shows), "Love U Right" ft Tinie Tempah, "Save It", and "Inspiration".[9][10]
Knight performed in concerts with Taio Cruz, Mario, and Jessie J in live concerts and shows.[11] During this time, he was studying to obtain a degree in economics. Knight postponed his studies to concentrate on his musical aspirations, though he did eventually graduate. After 2010, he updated his stage name from Zeekay to his real name, Zack Knight, which he still uses today.[12]
2011–14: Re-branding, covers and albums
After 2010, Knight, now operating without his stage name/alias, produced several singles and albums. As a result of his re-branding, he began working with different artists and producers. His musical style also changed, shifting focus from a hip-hop inspired sound to a pop music influence.[13] He attained regional and national support for his debut single, "All Over Again", in 2012, and his second single, "Who I Am", was featured as one of iTunes "New & Noteworthy" picks of the month. This was then followed by his third single, "When I'm Gone."[14][15] (These three singles were later incorporated into his 2016 album, On Repeat.) He was also active in producing his own covers and remixes of popular songs on his YouTube channel.[16] During this period, Knight produced two further albums, "Poison In My Sleep" (2014),[17] and "On Repeat" (2016, but with songs dating back to 2011–12).[18]
2014–present
In 2014, Knight signed a deal with T-Series. Under this record label, he made several singles, including "Dheere", "Nakhre", "Enemy", "Looking For Love", and "Tere Naam", most of which topped the BBC Asian Network Charts. He worked with various artists within the BBC Asian Network Industry, including Raxstar and Jasmin Walia. He also collaborated with artists outside the United Kingdom, including rapper Badshah, playback singer Mohammad Irfan, and American YouTube personality Adam Saleh. He was appointed BBC Music Ambassador in 2017.
During this period, Knight also wrote and produced "Bom Diggy" featuring Jasmin Walia, amassing over 1.3 billion views on YouTube (as of August 2025).[19] This track appeared in the Bollywood comedy Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018) and was accompanied by two Top 5 peaking singles in the UK R&B iTunes charts ("Ya Baba", "Tears"), one Top 10 UK Dance iTunes chart ("Love Controller"), three Consecutive Number ones on the BBC Asian Network Download Chart ("Nakhre", "Lamhe", "Enemy"),[20][21][22] and ten top Top 5 singles in the World/Asian Charts.
Knight's musical production ranges from independent creations to remixes, mashups, and medleys of other songs. His remixes typically combine various Bollywood songs with English R&B,[23] acoustic-type covers remixed with popular songs, or his own music.[24][25][26]
On 28 February 2021, in collaboration with Jernade Miah and Kayes Rashid, Knight released a new song named "Para Rum Pa" on YouTube. The song reached over 200k+ views on its release day, and over 1M views within 2 weeks.[27]
On 14 October 2021, Knight released a 3-track album titled 'Dear Dad' in memory of his father, who died in August 2021. His most recent album, 'iamzackknight', was released in 2022. His latest cover is Kahani Suno 2.0 and Bollywood Medley 9.
In 2022, Knight collaborated with Nora Fatehi for the song "Dirty Little Secret".[28]
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Discography
Singles
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