Daily Times

The veteran Pakistani singer Nayyara Noor has died, according to family sources.

The playback singer was one of the most popular films song playback singers on the Indian subcontinent and a stage performer.

She performed live ghazal concerts on Pakistani television programmes or in the country’s music halls.

Nayyara Noor was born in Guwahati, Assam, northeastern India, on 3 November 1950, where she grew up. Her family and ancestors were merchants who emigrated from Amritsar, Punjab and settled in Assam. Her father was a member of the All India Muslim League and welcomed Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Assam before the partition of India in 1947.

Noor immigrated to Pakistan with his mother and brothers from India in 1957 or 1958, settling in Karachi. In contrast, her father remained in Assam till 1993 to care for the family land. Nayyara was reportedly inspired by Kanan Devi and Kamla’s bhajans and Begum Akhtar’s ghazals and thumris as a child.

Although Nayyara had no formal musical training or education, Asrar Ahmad of the Lahore Islamic Institute trained her after hearing her sing at the 1968 banquet of the Lahore National Academy of Arts for her friends and colleagues. Soon after, she was invited to perform on the university’s Pakistani radio programme.

1971 was Nayyara’s debut as a singer on Pakistani television, and she later acted in films such as Gharana (1973) and Tansen. Since then, she has performed ghazals by notable poets such as Ghalib and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, along with giants such as Mehdi Hassan and Ahmed Rushdi.