Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Encyclopedia
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (October 13, 1948 – August 16, 1997) a world-renowned Pakistan
i musician, was primarily a singer of Qawwali
, the devotional music of the Sufis (a mystical
tradition within Islam
). Considered one of the greatest singers ever recorded, he possessed a six-octave vocal range
and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours. Extending the 600-year old Qawwali
tradition of his family, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is widely credited with introducing Sufi music
to international audiences. He was popularly known as Shahenshah-e-Qawwali, meaning The King of Kings of Qawwali.
Born in Faisalabad
, Nusrat had his first public performance at age of 16, at his father's chelum. He officially became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971, and was signed by Oriental Star Agencies
(OSA), Birmingham, U.K., in the early 1980s. In subsequent years, Khan released movie scores and albums for various labels in Pakistan, Europe, Japan and the U.S. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with Western artists, becoming a well-known world music
artist in the process. He toured extensively, performing in over 40 countries.
), Pakistan. He was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan
, a musicologist
, vocalist, instrumentalist, and Qawwal
. Khan's family, which included four older sisters and a younger brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan
, grew up in central Lyallpur. Initially, his father did not want Nusrat to follow the family's vocation. He had his heart set on Nusrat choosing a much more respectable career path and becoming a doctor, because he felt Qawwali artists had low social status. However, Nusrat showed such an aptitude for, and interest in, Qawwali that his father finally relented. Nusrat began by learning to play tabla
alongside his father before progressing to learn Raag Vidya and Bol Bandish. He then went on to learn to sing within the classical framework of khayal. Khan's training with his father was cut short when his father died in 1964, leaving Khan's paternal uncles, Mubarak Ali Khan
and Salamat Ali Khan, to complete his training. His first performance was at a traditional graveside ceremony for his father, known as chehlum, which took place forty days after his father's death.
In 1971, after the death of Mubarak Ali Khan, Nusrat became the official leader of the family Qawwali party and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan's first public performance as the leader of the Qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organised by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. Khan sang mainly in Urdu
and Punjabi
and occasionally in Persian
, Brajbhasha and Hindi
. His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style and with traditional instrumentation. The song featured restrained use of Nusrat's sargam improvisations.
In 1979, Khan married his first cousin, Naheed (the daughter of Fateh Ali Khan's brother, Salamat Ali Khan); they had one daughter, Nida.
Early in his career, Khan was signed up by Oriental Star Agencies in the U.K. to their Star Cassette Label. OSA sponsored regular concert tours by Nusrat to the U.K. from the early '80s onwards, and released much of this live material on cassette, CD, videotape and DVD.
Nusrat teamed with Peter Gabriel
on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ
in 1985, with Canadian musician Michael Brook
on the albums Mustt Mustt
(1990) and Night Song
(1996), and with Pearl Jam
lead singer Eddie Vedder
in 1995 on two songs for the soundtrack
to Dead Man Walking
. One of these songs ("The Long Road") was re-used on the soundtrack for Eat, Pray, Love in 2010. Nusrat also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers
. He composed the music for the 1994 film Bandit Queen
in collaboration with Roger White
.
Peter Gabriel's Real World
label later released five albums of Nusrat's traditional Qawwali, together with some of his experimental work which included the albums Mustt Mustt
and Star Rise
. Nusrat provided vocals for The Prayer Cycle
, which was put together by Jonathan Elias
, but died before the vocals could be completed. Alanis Morissette
was brought in to sing with his unfinished vocals. Nusrat also collabrated with Michael Brook to create music for the song 'Sweet Pain' used in the movie Any Given Sunday
. He also performed traditional Qawwali before international audiences at several WOMAD world music festivals and the single Dam Mast Qalandar was remixed by electronic trip hop
group Massive Attack
in 1998.
His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album.
Khan contributed songs to, and performed in, several Pakistani films. Shortly before his death, he recorded a song each for two Bollywood
films, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya
(in which he also sang the song onscreen) and Kachche Dhaage
. He sang the title song of the film, Dhadkan
. He also sang Saya bhi saath jab chhod jaye for Sunny Deol's
movie, Dillagi
. The song was released only in 1999, two years after Nusrat's death.
Khan contributed the song "Gurus of Peace" to the album Vande Mataram
, composed by A.R. Rahman, and released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence. Rahman, who was a big fan of Khan could not do further songs with him. As a tribute, Rahman later released an album titled Gurus of Peace, which featured "Allah Hoo" by Nusrat. Rahman's 2007 song "Tere Bina
" was also done as a tribute to Nusrat.
After his death, the song "Solemn Prayer", on which Nusrat provided vocals, was used on the Peter Gabriel song "Signal to Noise" (on the album Up
), and on the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese
film Gangs of New York
.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist—a total of 125 albums as of 2001.
, England
while on the way to Los Angeles
in order to receive a kidney transplant. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest
at Cromwell Hospital
, London
, on Saturday, August 16, 1997, aged 48. His body was returned to Faisalabad
, Pakistan
and his funeral was attended by the public.
) — changed over its 26 years. Listed below is a snapshot of the party, circa 1983:
The one significant member of the party who does not appear on this list is Atta Fareed. For many years, he alternated with Rehmat Ali on vocals and second harmonium. He is easily identifiable in videos since he plays the harmonium left-handed.
This snapshot is non-representative in one respect: harmoniums were usually the only instruments. Only rarely were instruments like mandolin or guitar used.
for his contribution to Pakistani music. In 1995 he received the UNESCO
Music Prize. In 1996 he was awarded Grand Prix des Amériques at Montreal World Film Festival
for exceptional contribution to the art of cinema. In 2005, Nusrat was awarded the "Legends" award at the UK Asian Music Awards
. Time magazine's issue of November 6, 2006, "60 Years of Asian Heroes", lists him as one of the top 12 Artists and Thinkers in the last 60 years. He also appeared on NPR
's 50 Great Voices list in 2010. In August, 2010 he was included in CNN
's list of the twenty most iconic musicians from the past fifty years.
Many honorary titles were bestowed upon Nusrat during his 25-year music career. He was given the title of Ustad
after performing classical music at a function in Lahore
on his father's death anniversary.
wrote:
Jeff Buckley
cited Nusrat as a major influence, saying of him "He's my Elvis
", and performing the first few minutes of Nusrat's hit "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai" (including vocals) at live concerts. Many other artists have also cited Nusrat as an influence, such as A.R. Rahman, Sheila Chandra
, and Alim Qasimov
.
Paul Williams
picked a concert performance by Nusrat for inclusion in his 2000 book "The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: a 'top-40' list", in which he devotes a chapter each to what he considers the top 40 artistic achievements of the 20th century in any field (including art, movies, music, fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction).
In 2004, a tribute band called (Brooklyn Qawwali Party) (formerly Brook's Qawwali Party) was formed in New York City by percussionist Brook Martinez to perform the music of Nusrat. The 13-piece group still performs mostly instrumental jazz versions of Nusrat's qawwalis, using the instruments conventionally associated with jazz rather than those associated with qawwali.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i musician, was primarily a singer of Qawwali
Qawwali
Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, Hyderabad, Delhi, and other parts of northern India...
, the devotional music of the Sufis (a mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
tradition within Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
). Considered one of the greatest singers ever recorded, he possessed a six-octave vocal range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours. Extending the 600-year old Qawwali
Qawwali
Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, Hyderabad, Delhi, and other parts of northern India...
tradition of his family, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is widely credited with introducing Sufi music
Sufi music
Sufi music is the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets, like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.Qawwali is the most well known form of Sufi music, common in India and Pakistan...
to international audiences. He was popularly known as Shahenshah-e-Qawwali, meaning The King of Kings of Qawwali.
Born in Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
, Nusrat had his first public performance at age of 16, at his father's chelum. He officially became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971, and was signed by Oriental Star Agencies
Oriental Star Agencies
Oriental Star Agencies is a British based record label. Some of the artists introduced by the label include Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Malkit Singh and Bally Sagoo....
(OSA), Birmingham, U.K., in the early 1980s. In subsequent years, Khan released movie scores and albums for various labels in Pakistan, Europe, Japan and the U.S. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with Western artists, becoming a well-known world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
artist in the process. He toured extensively, performing in over 40 countries.
Early life and career
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born on October 13, 1948 in the city of Lyallpur (now FaisalabadFaisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
), Pakistan. He was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan
Fateh Ali Khan (Qawwali Singer)
Fateh Ali Khan was born in Lyallpur, Punjab, British India in 1901. Ustad Fateh Ali Khan was the father of Qawwali musician, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Their family has an unbroken tradition of Qawwali for over 600 years...
, a musicologist
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
, vocalist, instrumentalist, and Qawwal
Qawwali
Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, Hyderabad, Delhi, and other parts of northern India...
. Khan's family, which included four older sisters and a younger brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan
Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan
Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan was a member of a well-known family of Qawwali musicians. He was the younger brother of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the son of Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, the nephew of Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, and the father of Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.-Short Biography:Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan...
, grew up in central Lyallpur. Initially, his father did not want Nusrat to follow the family's vocation. He had his heart set on Nusrat choosing a much more respectable career path and becoming a doctor, because he felt Qawwali artists had low social status. However, Nusrat showed such an aptitude for, and interest in, Qawwali that his father finally relented. Nusrat began by learning to play tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
alongside his father before progressing to learn Raag Vidya and Bol Bandish. He then went on to learn to sing within the classical framework of khayal. Khan's training with his father was cut short when his father died in 1964, leaving Khan's paternal uncles, Mubarak Ali Khan
Mubarak Ali Khan
Mubarak Ali Khan , one of the foremost Pakistani Qawwals of his time, was the father of Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan, uncle of Qawwali musicians Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan, and the brother of Fateh Ali Khan and Salamat Ali Khan. He is also the great-uncle of Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali...
and Salamat Ali Khan, to complete his training. His first performance was at a traditional graveside ceremony for his father, known as chehlum, which took place forty days after his father's death.
In 1971, after the death of Mubarak Ali Khan, Nusrat became the official leader of the family Qawwali party and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan's first public performance as the leader of the Qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organised by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. Khan sang mainly in Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
and Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
and occasionally in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Brajbhasha and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
. His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style and with traditional instrumentation. The song featured restrained use of Nusrat's sargam improvisations.
In 1979, Khan married his first cousin, Naheed (the daughter of Fateh Ali Khan's brother, Salamat Ali Khan); they had one daughter, Nida.
Early in his career, Khan was signed up by Oriental Star Agencies in the U.K. to their Star Cassette Label. OSA sponsored regular concert tours by Nusrat to the U.K. from the early '80s onwards, and released much of this live material on cassette, CD, videotape and DVD.
Later career
In the 1992-93 academic year, Nusrat was a Visiting Artist in the Ethnomusicology department at the University of Washington, Seattle.Nusrat teamed with Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ (film)
The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the controversial 1953 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. It stars Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, David Bowie as...
in 1985, with Canadian musician Michael Brook
Michael Brook
Michael Brook is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores....
on the albums Mustt Mustt
Mustt Mustt
Mustt Mustt is the first Qawwali fusion album collaboration between singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and guitarist and producer Michael Brook, although the album itself is credited purely to Khan. It was rock musician Peter Gabriel who suggested that Brook and Khan work together...
(1990) and Night Song
Night Song
Night Song is an album by qawwal Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and guitarist and producer Michael Brook. It was the last album on Real World Records that Khan lived to see finished...
(1996), and with Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
lead singer Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
in 1995 on two songs for the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to Dead Man Walking
Dead Man Walking (soundtrack)
Dead Man Walking is a soundtrack album to the film of the same name, released in 1996 on Columbia Records.-Track listing:-Charts:Album-Release history:-References:* -External links:* at Discogs*...
. One of these songs ("The Long Road") was re-used on the soundtrack for Eat, Pray, Love in 2010. Nusrat also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 crime/black comedy film directed by Oliver Stone about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and psychopathic serial killers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media...
. He composed the music for the 1994 film Bandit Queen
Bandit Queen
Bandit Queen is a 1994 Indian film based upon the life of Phoolan Devi. It was directed by Shekhar Kapur and starred Seema Biswas as the title character. It was produced by Bobby Bedi's Kaleidoscope Entertainment.The Music was Composed by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.- Plot :The film opens in the...
in collaboration with Roger White
Roger White
Roger Lowrey White was a British Conservative Party politician and company director.At the 1970 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Gravesend in Kent, a marginal seat which traditionally was won by the party in power...
.
Peter Gabriel's Real World
Real World Records
Real World Records is a record label started in 1989 by Peter Gabriel to record and produce world music.-Overview:The label grew up alongside the success of the WOMAD festivals and Peter Gabriel's exploration of music from other cultures, and helped push world music into the general public's...
label later released five albums of Nusrat's traditional Qawwali, together with some of his experimental work which included the albums Mustt Mustt
Mustt Mustt
Mustt Mustt is the first Qawwali fusion album collaboration between singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and guitarist and producer Michael Brook, although the album itself is credited purely to Khan. It was rock musician Peter Gabriel who suggested that Brook and Khan work together...
and Star Rise
Star Rise
Star Rise is a remix from two previous Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan / Michael Brook collaborations. The album was dedicated to the memory of Khan, who died prior to the album's completion, and released posthumously by Real World Records....
. Nusrat provided vocals for The Prayer Cycle
The Prayer Cycle
The Prayer Cycle is a choral/orchestral album by American film and television composer Jonathan Elias, and was released by Sony Classical Records in the United States on March 23, 1999.The project, recorded and mixed by co-producer R...
, which was put together by Jonathan Elias
Jonathan Elias
Jonathan Elias is a U.S. composer and record producer, known for his movie soundtracks, production for several pop and rock acts, and his award-winning advertising music including the PBS logo instrumental from October 1, 1984 to October 1, 1989....
, but died before the vocals could be completed. Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
was brought in to sing with his unfinished vocals. Nusrat also collabrated with Michael Brook to create music for the song 'Sweet Pain' used in the movie Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...
. He also performed traditional Qawwali before international audiences at several WOMAD world music festivals and the single Dam Mast Qalandar was remixed by electronic trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
group Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
in 1998.
His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album.
Khan contributed songs to, and performed in, several Pakistani films. Shortly before his death, he recorded a song each for two Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
films, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya
Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya
Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya is a 1997 Indian Bollywood film. The film starred Bobby Deol and Aishwarya Rai. This is the first Hindi movie for Aishwarya Rai. The movie also featured two songs by the celebrated Qawwali singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Its story is somewhat similar to the 1994 English film "Only...
(in which he also sang the song onscreen) and Kachche Dhaage
Kachche Dhaage
Kachche Dhaage is a 1999 Hindi action thriller film directed by Milan Luthria and starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan and Manisha Koirala. The film, which features Devgan as a smuggler, delivering goods across the Rajasthan-Pakistan border, was filmed in the deserts of Rajasthan and in Switzerland...
. He sang the title song of the film, Dhadkan
Dhadkan
Dhadkan is a Bollywood movie which deals with the love triangle of Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty and Sunil Shetty. Sunil Shetty won a Filmfare Best Villain Award for his performance.- Synopsis :...
. He also sang Saya bhi saath jab chhod jaye for Sunny Deol's
Sunny Deol
Sunny Deol often credited as "Action King of Bollywood" is an Indian film actor, producer and director. Deol was born to Bollywood actor Dharmendra. He has won two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards. He went to England to study acting...
movie, Dillagi
Dillagi
Dillagi is a 1999 Bollywood film directed by Sunny Deol and also starring Sunny Deol alongside his real-life brother Bobby Deol and Urmila Matondkar. The film was a box office flop but Deol's first attempt at directing was appreciated....
. The song was released only in 1999, two years after Nusrat's death.
Khan contributed the song "Gurus of Peace" to the album Vande Mataram
Vande Mataram (album)
Vande Mataram is a 1997 studio album by Indian musician A. R. Rahman. It is the largest selling Indian non-film album to date. It released on December 9, 1997 by Columbia Records, a music label under Sony Music...
, composed by A.R. Rahman, and released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence. Rahman, who was a big fan of Khan could not do further songs with him. As a tribute, Rahman later released an album titled Gurus of Peace, which featured "Allah Hoo" by Nusrat. Rahman's 2007 song "Tere Bina
Tere Bina (Guru song)
"Tere Bina" is a 2006 Hindi song from the 2007 Hindi film Guru. It was composed by A. R. Rahman, performed by Rahman, Murtuza Khan, Quadir Khan and Chinmayee and written by Gulzar. It is a love ballad composed in sufi style of music. It is dedicated to the memory of Pakistani qawwali singer Ustad...
" was also done as a tribute to Nusrat.
After his death, the song "Solemn Prayer", on which Nusrat provided vocals, was used on the Peter Gabriel song "Signal to Noise" (on the album Up
Up (Peter Gabriel album)
Up is the seventh studio and 13th album overall released by the British progressive rock musician Peter Gabriel.-Pre-release:In the Spring of 1995, Gabriel began work on the album. Its name was Up from the start, though at one point it was considered to be called I/O...
), and on the soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
film Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist—a total of 125 albums as of 2001.
Death
Khan was taken ill with kidney and liver failure on August 11, 1997 in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
while on the way to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in order to receive a kidney transplant. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
at Cromwell Hospital
Cromwell Hospital
The Cromwell Hospital is a private sector hospital located in the South Kensington area of London. The hospital was founded on 29 April 1981. The Cromwell Hospital has at various times been owned by the Bank of Credit & Commerce International and the Abu Dhabi royal family.The footballer George...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, on Saturday, August 16, 1997, aged 48. His body was returned to Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and his funeral was attended by the public.
Composition of Nusrat's qawwali party
The composition of Nusrat's ensemble — called a party (or Humnawa in UrduUrdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
) — changed over its 26 years. Listed below is a snapshot of the party, circa 1983:
- Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan: Nusrat's first cousin, vocals
- Farrukh Fateh Ali KhanFarrukh Fateh Ali KhanFarrukh Fateh Ali Khan was a member of a well-known family of Qawwali musicians. He was the younger brother of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the son of Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, the nephew of Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, and the father of Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.-Short Biography:Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan...
: Nusrat's brother, vocals and lead harmonium - Rehmat Ali: vocals and second harmonium
- Maqsood Hussain: vocals
- Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali KhanRahat Nusrat Fateh Ali KhanRahat Fateh Ali Khan is a Pakistani musician, and primarily a singer of Qawwali, a devotional music of the Sufis. He is the nephew of the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In addition to Qawwali, he also performs ghazals and other light music...
: Nusrat's nephew & pupil, vocals - Dildar HussainDildar HussainDildar Hussain was the percussionist of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Qawwali party until Nusrat's death in 1997.Dildar Hussain learned tabla from Ustad Allah Rakha Khan. His first performance was in India in 1969 before he joined Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Qawwali party in 1971...
: percussion - Majawar Abbas: mandolin and guitar/chorus, handclapping
- Mohammed Iqbal Naqvi: secretary of the party, chorus, handclapping
- Asad Ali: chorus, handclapping. Nusrat's cousin
- Ghulam Farid: chorus, handclapping
- Kaukab Ali: chorus, handclapping
The one significant member of the party who does not appear on this list is Atta Fareed. For many years, he alternated with Rehmat Ali on vocals and second harmonium. He is easily identifiable in videos since he plays the harmonium left-handed.
This snapshot is non-representative in one respect: harmoniums were usually the only instruments. Only rarely were instruments like mandolin or guitar used.
Awards and Titles
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is widely considered to be the most important qawwal in history. In 1987, Khan received the President of Pakistan’s Award for Pride of PerformancePride of Performance
Pride of Performance , is one of the highest civil award given and conferred by the Pakistan Government to Pakistan's citizens in recognition of distinguished merit in the fields of Literature, Arts, Sports, Medicines, and Science for civilians in most particular cases.The announcement of civil...
for his contribution to Pakistani music. In 1995 he received the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Music Prize. In 1996 he was awarded Grand Prix des Amériques at Montreal World Film Festival
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
for exceptional contribution to the art of cinema. In 2005, Nusrat was awarded the "Legends" award at the UK Asian Music Awards
UK Asian Music Awards
The UK Asian Music Awards, also known by the abbreviation UK AMA, is an award show that is held annually in the United Kingdom since 2002. It is presented by B4U Music since 2008...
. Time magazine's issue of November 6, 2006, "60 Years of Asian Heroes", lists him as one of the top 12 Artists and Thinkers in the last 60 years. He also appeared on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's 50 Great Voices list in 2010. In August, 2010 he was included in CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's list of the twenty most iconic musicians from the past fifty years.
Many honorary titles were bestowed upon Nusrat during his 25-year music career. He was given the title of Ustad
Ustad
Ustad is an Arabized Persian word is a honorific title for a Muslim man in South Asia. The title precedes the name and is usually used for well regarded teachers and artists, most often musicians. It is applied and used via informal social agreement. It is abbreviated as ut. or ud.-References:*...
after performing classical music at a function in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
on his father's death anniversary.
Tributes, legacy and influence
Alexandra A. Seno of AsiaweekAsiaweek
Asiaweek, the English edition, was a news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its December 7, 2001 issue due to a "downturn in the advertising market," according to...
wrote:
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's voice was otherworldly. For 25 years, his mystical songs transfixed millions. It was not long enough .... He performed qawali, which means wise or philosophical utterance, as nobody else of his generation did. His vocal range, talent for improvisation and sheer intensity were unsurpassed.
Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
cited Nusrat as a major influence, saying of him "He's my Elvis
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
", and performing the first few minutes of Nusrat's hit "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai" (including vocals) at live concerts. Many other artists have also cited Nusrat as an influence, such as A.R. Rahman, Sheila Chandra
Sheila Chandra
Sheila Chandra is an English pop singer of Indian descent.-Indian-Western pop fusion period:Sheila Chandra first came to public attention as an actress, playing Sudhamani Patel in the BBC school drama Grange Hill from 1979 to 1981.As a teenager she formed the band Monsoon with Steve Coe , and...
, and Alim Qasimov
Alim Qasimov
Alim Qasimov is an Azerbaijani musician, and one of the foremost mugam singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of the highest international accolades for music. His music is characterised by his vocal improvisation and represents a move...
.
Paul Williams
Paul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator)
Paul Williams is an American music journalist and writer. Williams created the first national US magazine of rock music criticism :Crawdaddy! in January 1966 on the campus of Swarthmore College with the help of some of his fellow science fiction fans...
picked a concert performance by Nusrat for inclusion in his 2000 book "The 20th Century's Greatest Hits: a 'top-40' list", in which he devotes a chapter each to what he considers the top 40 artistic achievements of the 20th century in any field (including art, movies, music, fiction, non-fiction, science-fiction).
In 2004, a tribute band called (Brooklyn Qawwali Party) (formerly Brook's Qawwali Party) was formed in New York City by percussionist Brook Martinez to perform the music of Nusrat. The 13-piece group still performs mostly instrumental jazz versions of Nusrat's qawwalis, using the instruments conventionally associated with jazz rather than those associated with qawwali.
Documentaries
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: le dernier prophète (1996). Directed by Jérôme de Missolz.
- Nusrat has Left the Building... But When? (1997). Directed by Farjad Nabi. (This 20-minute docudramaDocudramaIn film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
focuses on Nusrat's early career.) - A Voice from Heaven (1999). Directed by Giuseppe Asaro. New York, NY: Winstar TV & Video. (This 75-minute documentary, available on VHS and DVD, provides an excellent introduction to Nusrat's life and work.)
- Samandar Main Samandar (2007). A documentary aired on Geo TVGeo TVGeo TV or Geo Television is a Pakistani television network, founded by Mr. Mir Shakil ur Rehman in May 2002 and owned by Independent Media Corporation. The channel began test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning 1 October 2002...
detailing Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's career. - The King of Qawalli (2009). A short film aired on Dawn NewsDawn NewsDawn News was Pakistan's 24-hour Urdu news channel. Based in Karachi, the station is a subsidiary of Pakistan Herald Publications Limited , Pakistan's largest English-language media group. The test transmission of the station occurred on May 25, 2007, and the channel went live on July 23, 2007...
about Nusrat's life and career.
Concert films
- The JVC Video Anthology of World Music and Dance (1990). Video 14 (of 30) (South Asia IV). Produced by Ichikawa Katsumori; directed by Nakagawa Kunikiko and Ichihashi Yuji; in collaboration with the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. [Tokyo]: JVC, Victor Company of Japan; Cambridge, Massachusetts: distributed by Rounder Records. Features a studio performance by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party (two Urdu-language songs: a HamdHamdA Hamd is a poem or song in praise of Allah. A hamd is usually written in Arabic, Persian, Punjabi, or Urdu. The word "hamd" comes from the Qur'an, which Muslims believe to be Allah's Word; its English translation is "Praise"....
, and a ManqabatManqabatA Manqabat is a Sufi devotional poem, in praise of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of Muhammad, or of any Sufi saint.In Qawwali, manqabats are sung to music. The most well known of the qawwali manqabats is "Man Kunto Maula", written by Amir Khusrau in praise of Ali...
for Khwaja Mu`inuddin ChishtiMoinuddin ChishtiSultan-ul-Hind, Moinuddin Chishti was born in 1141 and died in 1230 CE. Also known as Gharīb Nawāz "Benefactor of the Poor" , he is the most famous Sufi saint of the Chishti Order of the Indian Subcontinent. He introduced and established the order in South Asia...
. Filmed in Tokyo, Japan, September 20, 1987, for Asian Traditional Performing Arts). - Nusrat! Live at Meany (1998). Produced by the University of Washington. (87-minute recording of a January 23, 1993 concert at Meany Hall, University of Washington in Seattle, during Nusrat's residency at the Ethnomusicology Program there.)
- Live in Concert in the U.K. (DVD, vols. 1-17) [OSA]; recorded between 1983 and 1993; first thirteen listed below:
- Live in Concert in UK (DVD vol. 1)
- Live in Concert (DVD vol. 2)
- Live in Concert (DVD vol. 3)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 4)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 5)
- Live in Concert (DVD vol. 6)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 7)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 8)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 9)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 10)
- Live in UK (DVD vol. 11)
-
- Digbeth Birmingham 12 November 1983 (DVD vol. 12)
- Digbeth 30 October 1983 (DVD vol. 13)
- Akhiyan Udeek Diyan (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
- Je Tun Rab Nu Manauna (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
- Yaadan Vicchre Sajan Diyan Aayiyan (DVD) [Nupur Audio]
- Rang-e-Nusrat (DVD, vols. 1-11) [Music Today]; recorded between 1983 and 1993 (same material as the OSA DVDs)
- VHS videotapes, vols. 1-21 [OSA]; recorded between 1983 and 1993 (same material as the OSA DVDs)
- Luxor Cinema Birmingham (VHS vol. 1, 1979)
- Digbeth Birmingham (VHS vol. 2, 1983)
- St. Francis Hall Birmingham (VHS vol. 3, 1983)
- Royal Oak Birmingham (VHS vol. 4, 1983)
- Private Mehfil (Wallace Lawley Centre, Lozells Birmingham, November 1983) (VHS vol. 5)
- Private Mehfil (VHS vol. 6, 1983)
- Natraj Cinema Leicester (VHS vol. 7, 1983)
- Live In Southall (VHS vol. 8)
- Live In Bradford (VHS vol. 9, 1983)
- Live In Birmingham (VHS vol. 10, 1985)
- Allah Ditta Hall (VHS vol. 11, 1985)
- Harrow Leisure Centre (VHS vol. 12)
- University Of Aston (VHS vol. 13, 1988)
- Aston University (VHS vol. 14, 1988)
- WOMAD Festival Bracknell (VHS vol. 15, 1988)
- Live In Paris (VHS vol. 16, 1988)
- Poplar Civic Centre London (VHS vol. 17)
- Imperial Hotel Birmingham (VHS vol. 18, 1985)
- Slough Gurdawara (SHABADS) (VHS vol. 19)
- Imran Khan Cancer Appeal (VHS vol. 20)
- Town Hall Birmingham (VHS vol. 21, 1993)
See also
- List of Pakistani musicians
- Music of PakistanMusic of PakistanThe music of Pakistan includes diverse elements ranging from music from various parts of South Asia as well as Central Asian, Persian, Turkish, Arabic and modern day Western popular music influences...
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan albums
- QawwaliQawwaliQawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, Hyderabad, Delhi, and other parts of northern India...
Additional reading
- Baud, Pierre-Alain. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Messenger of Qawwali. Editions Demi-Lune, 2008. (A biography of Nusrat.)