Khan Sahib, King of Ghazal
Born: July 18, 1927
Profession: Singer, Composer
Affiliation(s): Classical music, Ghazal, Playback singing
Citizenship: Pakistani
Profile Mehdi Hassan Khan (July 18, 1927 – June 13, 2012) was a Pakistani ghazal singer and a former playback singer for Lollywood. Hassan's career spanned 50 years. He came to be known as "king of ghazals", traditional laments for lost love, and was highly regarded in the Pakistan film industry. Legendary Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar once likened his songs to the "voice of god". He was honoured with Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Pride of Performance and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan, and Gorkha Dakshina Bahu by the Government of Nepal. He remained a leading singer of film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi. Mehdi Hasssan died on 13 June 2012 after a protracted illness, in Agha Khan Hospital in Karachi. Early life Mehdi Hassan was born on 18 July 1927 in a village called Luna in Rajasthan, India into a family of traditional musicians. He claims to be the 16th generation of hereditary musicians hailing from the Kalawant clan of musicians. Mehdi Hassan had his musical grooming from his father Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan who were both traditional Dhrupad singers. Hassan started to perform at a young age and the first concert of dhrupad and kheyal with his elder brother is reported to have been held in Fazilka Bungla, near present DC House (1935) of Undivided Punjab. After the Partition of India, 20-year-old Hassan and his family migrated to Pakistan and suffered severe financial hardships. Mehdi initially started working in Chichawatni, in a bicycle shop. He later became a car and diesel tractor mechanic. Despite the financial hardships, his passion for music didn not wither and he kept up the routine of practice on a daily basis. Singing career In 1957, Mehdi Hassan was given the opportunity to sing on Radio Pakistan, primarily as a thumri singer, which earned him recognition within the musical fraternity. He had a passion for Urdu poetry, and therefore, he began to experiment by singing ghazals on a part-time basis. He cites radio officers Z.A. Bukhari and Rafiq Anwar as additional influences in his progression as a ghazal singer. Gradually, he became one of the most popular ghazal singers in Pakistan and the neighbouring India. He cut back on his performances in the late 1980s due to illness, which included a serious lung condition. The severity of his illness forced him to give up all singing by the late-1990s. In October 2010, HMV released "Sarhadein" in which probably the first and last duet song Tera Milana featuring Mehdi Hassan and Lata Mangeshkar was released. This song was composed by Mr. Hassan himself written by Farhat Shahzad. Mr. Hassan recorded it in Pakistan in 2009, and Lata Mangeshkar later heard the track and recorded her part in India in 2010 and later mixed together for a duet. Death He had been suffering from a serious lung condition for the few years before his death in 2012. There were rumors of his death on January 13, 2012. However, his son Asif Mehdi confirmed that the death rumors were incorrect, and that he was responding to treatments and recovering. Mehdi Hasan died at around noon on 13 June, 2012 at Agha Khan Hospital Karachi after suffering a 12-year long tenure of lung, chest and urinary tract diseases. The Press Trust of India said an era of ghazal singing had come to an end with his death. "The demise of the India-born Pakistani ghazal maestro was a huge loss to the world of music and left a void that can never be filled," it reported.
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