The ninth death anniversary of renowned singer known as Shehenshah-e-Ghazal Mehdi Hassan Khan is being observed today.
Mehdi Hassan was born on 18 July 1927 in a village called Luna in present-day India into a family of traditional musicians. His family migrated to Pakistan after partition when he was 20 years old and faced immense financial hardship.
Mehdi Hassan had received his musical grooming from his father Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan and started performing from a young age. In 1957, he started his musical career as a thumri singer in Radio Pakistan. He received stardom after he sang ‘Gulon Main Rang Bhare’ for the film ‘Farangi’ in 1964 written by renowned poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. He recorded more than 25,000 ghazals and songs for films.
When Mehdi Hassan visited India during the early 80s, he received a tumultuous welcome at the airport where renowned Bollywood personalities including Lata Mangeshkar, Dilip Kumar, and Jagjeet Singh were present to pay their respects. “It feels like God is singing through his voice,” the legendary Lata Lata Mangeshkar had once said about the ghazal maestro.
By the end of the mid-80s, Hassan stop singing for films after an illness and started concentrating on singing ghazals. He traveled across the world to perform in musical concerts. He is widely credited with bringing ghazal singing to a worldwide audience. He is known for his unique melodic patterns and strong baritone voice.
He was bestowed with several awards by different countries including Nepal and India. He was conferred the Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan. He suffered a stroke in 2001 following which his health started deteriorating. After being unwell for around a decade, Mehdi Hassan left this world on 13 June 2012. His ghazals will always keep him alive in the hearts of music lovers.
