74th birth anniversary of the world renowned Pakistani musician and legendary “Qawaal’’ Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan was observed on Thursday.
He was popularly known as “Shahenshah-e-Qawwal”.
He was born in Faisalabad on 13th October 1948. He was a pioneer of fusion music in Pakistan.
Ustad Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan was the first musician to blend eastern and western musical styles together.
He introduced his Qawali traditions to international level.
His name is included in Guinness Book of World Record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist, a total 125 albums.
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Dum mast Qalandar, Wohi khuda hai, Kasy da yar na bichry, tumhy dillagi bhooljani paryge, Jany kb hon gy km, Tera inam Pakistan are some of the maestro’s work of the King of Qawal.
He was awarded the Pride of Performance award by the Government of Pakistan for his contribution to the promotion of music.
Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan received the UNESCO Music Prize and Legends award at the UK Asian Music Awards in 2005.
USTAD NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN is credited for having introduced the form of qawwali music to Western audiences, something that no one from the east had done before.
He possessed one of the greatest voices ever recorded in the history of music as a performing art and could sing qawwalis at high intensity for up to 10 hours at a stretch.
He was also the first qawwali singer to have been nominated for a Grammy award, albeit both his nominated albums Intoxicated Spirit and Night Song were in collaboration with foreign musicians.
He is the only singer to have had a dedicated tribute band in New York City, which is called the Brooklyn Qawwali Party, founded by Brook Martinez. The band was formed 6 years after his death, marking how he made the whole world a fan of the qawwali music.
He died of lungs cancer in 1997.
