William Gamborg Heer cover: Norwegian singer's solo take on the hit
After going viral singing with Lahore children, Norwegian singer William Gamborg has released a solo cover of 'Heer' with his own English verses.
Norwegian singer William Gamborg has released a solo cover of the Pakistani hit “Heer”, weeks after videos of him singing it with children in Lahore went viral. The new version, filmed as part of his “Carpet Sessions” series, went up on his YouTube channel on 9 November, and Pakistani outlets including ARY News and Daily Times picked it up this week.
How a Norwegian ended up singing Heer
Gamborg visited Lahore in late October and spent time at the Surtaal Music Academy, where children sing Urdu and Punjabi songs. Clips of him joining them, and riding Qingqi rickshaws around the city, spread across Instagram and TikTok, Gulf News reported. The academy and Gamborg then put out a full group version of “Heer” on 5 November.
The solo cover is different. It is just him, sung slowly, with the Urdu chorus he learnt in Lahore (“Kabhi jo main ishq likhun, teri tasveer bane”) followed by English verses of his own: “There’s nobody else like you, a diamond in a field full of mud.” In the video description he credits the original to Ali and Shjr, Haider Ali and Ali Raza.
The original
“Heer” was released in January 2025 by Freebird Records with Ali Raza, Shajjar Hussain and Haider Ali, according to ARY News. Its chorus, about wanting to be Ranjha to someone’s Heer, borrows the Punjabi folk love story everyone here grew up with, which is why it travels so easily into covers and reels.
What the cover does
The smart choice is the English verse: instead of translating the Urdu, Gamborg writes new lines that say what the chorus says, a promise to love enough for two. It is a short clip, about a minute and a half, closer to a thank-you note to Lahore than a studio single. Ali Raza and Asim Azhar had already praised his earlier Heer videos, Lovin Karachi reported.
What next
Gamborg’s videos suggest more Pakistani songs are coming; the earlier Lahore clips included “Alfaaz”. Pakistani fans are already asking for a full studio version.
