Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan being remembered on his 19th death anniversary

Today marks the 19th death anniversary of the legendary qawwali maestro Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born on October 13, 1948 in Faisalabad.

The legendary singer was not only popular in Pakistan but also in rest of the world. He sang predominantly in the Islamic devotional style known as Qawwali.

He passed away at the age of 48 in the year of 1997, having become one of the world’s most outstanding vocalists.

Nusrat Fateh’s songs are still alive among his fans and also youngsters, and have defined the art-form of Qawwali for the generations to come.

Khan’s first public performance 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.

He had performed around Europe, India, Japan, USA and had also collaborated on several songs with Western musicians including the renowned Peter Gabriel and lead singer of Pearl Jam Eddie Vedder.

He also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers.

Most of his songs including, “Allah Hoo Allah Hoo,” “Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai,” and “Haq Ali,” (his first song) continue to be re-sung countless times over, though his style has never been matched.

Nusrat Fateh Ali holds the Guinness world record for producing the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist — a total of 125 albums as of 2001.

In 1987, the government of Pakistan bestowed Pride of Performance on the legendary singer for his contribution to Pakistani music. Two years before his death, he received the prestigious UNESCO Music Prize. He received a number of national and international honorary awards throughout his music career.

His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album.

Though he hailed from the Sufi community, his music transcends all sectarian differences in a country that has never been able to leave them behind, not to mention national boundaries.