At the age of around sixteen years, she moved to Kabul with her paternal uncle and continued her secondary education at Rabia Balkhi Lece, where she began performing as a vocalist in a girl's band.

This was around the time of the April Revolution of 1978, when the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan took control of Kabul and other parts of the country.

[4] A year before finishing high school she married Mangal, an already popular Afghan singer from Laghman Province.

In March 2014, she became the first Afghan to receive the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and the Pride of Performance, the highest Pakistani Presidential Awards handed to artists, sportsmen, scientists and writers.

Naghma encourages Afghan refugees to try and go back to Afghanistan through her aid work and music to rebuild the country.

[citation needed] Naghma and Mangal divorced in 2006 and later she married the son of Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi of Logar Province.