The 27th death anniversary of legendary Qawwali maestro, popularly known as ‘Shahenshah-e-Qawwali’, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was observed on Friday.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the great singer and musician, was famous for his melodious tunes, introduction of traditional Qawwali and heart touching music.
He received several awards, including Pride of Performance, for his contribution to the music. The legend Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born on October 13‚ 1948 in Faisalabad. He was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan, a musician, vocalist, instrumentalist, and Qawwal. Extending the 600-year old Qawwali tradition of his family‚ Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is widely credited with introducing Sufi music to international audiences. He also did music projects with India music composer A R Rehman and film lyricist Javed Akhtar.
He reached out to western audiences through his work with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ in 1985. According to the Guinness Book of World Records Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist–a total of 125 albums as of 2001. Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali was the first musician to blend eastern and western musical styles together.
His famous numbers include Dum Mast Qalandar Mast and Mera Piya Ghar Aaya (My lover has come home) and Ali (R.A) Maula Ali (R.A).
His Hamd “Wohi Khuda Hai” and national song “Mera Paigham Pakistan” are still popular among the music lovers.
Time Magazine included Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s name in the list of Asian Heroes where he was popularly called in Japan as “The Singing Buddha”.
He won several international awards for his contribution in the world music.
There is no two opinion that Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is a maestro and a legend in the history of Pakistani music.
He sang countless songs for domestic films and his music was copied in India as well and the world renowned musicians considered it an honour to work with him.
He died on August 16 1997 at the age of 48.