The 29th death anniversary of legendary Pakistani qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is being observed on Sunday, with admirers remembering an artist who took the centuries-old tradition of qawwali to audiences around the world.
Born in Faisalabad on October 13, 1948, Nusrat was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan, himself a musician, vocalist, instrumentalist and qawwal. He inherited a family musical tradition stretching back around 600 years.
Known as “Shahenshah-e-Qawwali” — the King of Kings of Qawwali — Nusrat became celebrated for his extraordinary vocal power, range and endurance. He reportedly possessed a six-octave vocal range and was renowned for sustaining highly intense performances for hours.
While deeply rooted in traditional Sufi music, Nusrat played a pivotal role in bringing qawwali to international audiences, collaborating with musicians beyond South Asia and introducing the genre to listeners unfamiliar with its spiritual and musical traditions.
His international collaborations included work with Peter Gabriel, while in South Asia he worked on musical projects with A.R. Rahman and lyricist Javed Akhtar.
Nusrat’s influence continued long after his death. Music magazine Rolling Stone included him in its list of “The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time,” recognising artists whose voices and performances left a lasting mark on music and its audiences.
His enormous recorded output was another measure of his career. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat held the record for the largest recorded catalogue by a qawwali artist, with 125 albums recorded by 2001.
Nusrat became seriously ill with kidney and liver failure in London on August 11, 1997. He died following a sudden cardiac arrest at Cromwell Hospital on August 16, 1997, aged just 48.
Nearly three decades after his death, his recordings, compositions and unmistakable voice continue to introduce new generations around the world to qawwali and the Sufi musical tradition.