KARACHI: The 68th birth anniversary of legend qawwal Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is being observed on Thursday (today).
He is popularly regarded as “Shahenshah-e-Qawwali”, meaning “The King of Qawwali”.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born in Faisalabad on 13th October, 1948, and is considered one of the trend-setters and pioneers of fusion music in Pakistan.
He was trained by his father Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and he used to perform with his father in different programs.
The maestro had amazing vocal capabilities and could perform for several hours with high pitched vocals.
Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali was the first musician to blend eastern and western musical styles together. He had collaborated with many foreign musicians including A.R. Rehman, Lata Mangeshkar, Ed Vedder and Peter Gabriel.
He holds the world record for releasing the highest number of albums with 125 albums to his name. 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.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was awarded the prestigious Pride of Performance by the Government of Pakistan in 1987 for his contribution in promotion of music in the country.
His first major hit was the song Haq Ali Ali while he also did joint ventures with well-known international singers. Khan reached out to western audiences through his work with peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to the last temptation of Christ in 1985.
Time Magazine included Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s name in their list of Asian Heroes whereas he was popularly called in Japan as “The Singing Buddha”. He won several international awards for his contribution in the world music.
The king of qawwal lost his battle with lung cancer in 1997 .
There is no two opinion that Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is a maestro and a legend in the history of Pakistani music.
Kailash Kher pays tribute to Nusrat overlooking Indian extremists’ threats
Indian singer Kailash Kher pays tribute to Nusrat Khan on this occasion.
Watch what he has to say:
On the #BirthAnniversary of #NusratFatehAliKhan Saab, Here’s what @Kailashkher has to say! P.S : Spl song coming in part 02 🙂 @Fever_104FM pic.twitter.com/1aGHiYymuL
— RJ Urmin (@RJUrmin) October 13, 2016
Part 02 with @Kailashkher singing a special #tribute song to #NusratFatehAliKhan Saab today on his BirthAnniversary ! @Fever_104FM pic.twitter.com/ewr1jfYsYe
— RJ Urmin (@RJUrmin) October 13, 2016
