Hassan made her singing debut with the song "Aap Jaisa Koi", which appeared in the Indian film "Qurbani" in 1980. She received praise for the single, and won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer at the age of 15 in 1981, becoming the first Pakistani to win and currently remains the youngest recipient of the award to date. Her debut album, "Disco Deewane", was released in 1981, and charted in fourteen countries worldwide and became the best-selling Asian pop record up at the time. The album included the English language single "Dreamer Deewane" which led her to be the first Pakistani singer to make it to the British charts.