Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was a Pakistani singer and musician who was regarded as one of the best voices ever recorded. He was primarily known for singing qawwali, Sufi devotional music. He had an incredible voice and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours as a vocalist. He gained an early interest in the art form after growing up in a family of renowned singers and musicians. His father, on the other hand, wanted him to become a doctor or an engineer since he believed that qawwalis had a low social rank. But fate had other ideas, and Nusrat became a guitarist and singer as well. At the age of 16, he gave his first public performance and quickly rose to the top of the family’s qawwali party. Within a few years, he had established himself as one of the greatest qawwals of his generation throughout Pakistan. He experimented with the tempo and voice ranges as he grew as a performer, developing his own unique style of qawwali. It did not take long for his fame to travel over the world, and he became a well-known and respected person in nations such as India, Japan, and the United States. He is known as “Shahenshah-e-Qawwali,” which translates to “The King of Kings of Qawwali.” He is credited with introducing qawwali music to international listeners.
Childhood and Adolescence
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born in Hazara, Punjab, Pakistan, on October 13, 1948. After the partition of India in 1947, his Punjabi Muslim family moved to Pakistan from their native city of Jalandhar in East Punjab, British India.
Fateh Ali Khan, his father, was a musicologist, singer, instrumentalist, and qawwal. Nusrat was the youngest of five siblings, with four older sisters and one younger brother. He came from a long line of qawwali musicians in his family. Ustad Mubarik Ali Khan and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, two of his uncles, were also well-known qawwals.
Nusrat’s father initially wanted him to become a doctor or an engineer, believing that qawwals had a low social rank. Nusrat did, however, acquire musical training in tabla and singing.
Nusrat’s father died when he was 16 years old, in 1964. Nusrat had a dream ten days after his death in which his father appeared and told him to sing. After 40 days, the youngster delivered his first public performance at his father’s funeral.
The Career of Nusrat
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan began performing with his uncles and grew into a renowned qawwali singer. He leaned on his uncles’ musical approach at first, but as he grew as a performer, he added his own creative touches to his music and formed his own distinct qawwali style.
When his uncle Mubarak Ali Khan died in 1971, Nusrat Khan took over as the official leader of the family’s Qawwali party, which was dubbed “Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party.”
He delivered his first performance as the leader of the family party at a studio recording broadcast called ‘Jashn-e-Baharan,’ which was part of an annual music festival produced by Radio Pakistan. There, he sang in Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, and Hindi, among other languages.
He quickly rose to prominence and became known throughout Pakistan as one of the most well-known contemporary qawwals of his time. He could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours because he had a powerful voice and a lot of stamina. In concerts, he was accompanied by tabla, harmoniums, and backing voices.
Khan’s renown quickly expanded outside of Pakistan, and in 1985 he performed at the World of Music, Arts, and Dance (WOMAD) event in London.
He then began touring and performing all over the world, including visits to Paris in 1985 and 1988, as well as a visit to Japan in 1987 at the Japan Foundation’s request. He gave a concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in 1989.
In the 1990s, his reputation soared, and he was named a Visiting Artist in the Department of Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1992–93.
He also recorded several CDs and worked on the soundtracks of numerous international films throughout his career.
On the albums Mustt Mustt’ (1990) and ‘Night Song,’ he collaborated with Canadian artist Michael Brook (1996). In 1988, he collaborated with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack for ‘The Last Temptation of Christ,’ which allowed him to combine qawwalis and Western music.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan appeared in and sang in a number of Pakistani and Indian films. ‘Koi Jane Koi Na Jane,’ ‘Saya Bhi Saath Jab Chhod Jaye,’ and ‘Dulhe Ka Sehra’ are some of the songs he sang for Indian films.
In addition, he wrote the song “Gurus of Peace” for the Indian album “Vande Mataram,” which was released to commemorate India’s 50th anniversary of independence.
Nusrat’s Major Projects
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was one of the first Western artists to popularize qawwali. His powerful, seductive voice mesmerized audiences not just in Pakistan, but all across the world, and he possessed an astonishing range of vocal abilities. ‘Mustt Mustt,’ ‘The Day, The Night, The Dawn, The Dusk,’ ‘Night Song,’ and ‘Sangam’ are some of his most successful albums.
Achievements & Awards
In 1987, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was awarded the President of Pakistan’s Pride of Performance Award for his contribution to Pakistani music.
In 1995, he received the UNESCO Music Prize, and the following year, the Grand Prix des Amériques at the Montreal World Film Festival.
He was named to CNN’s list of the twenty most iconic musicians of the past fifty years in August 2010.
Personal History and Legacy
In 1979, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan married Naheed, his first cousin, and Salamat Ali Khan’s daughter. Nida was their only child.
In 1997, while in London, he developed renal and liver failure. On August 16, 1997, he died of a deadly heart attack. He was 48 years old at the time. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Khan’s nephew, is now carrying on his father’s musical legacy.
Estimated Net worth
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is one of the wealthiest World Music Singers and one of the most popular World Music Singers. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s net worth is estimated to be around $20 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.