Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani vocalist, primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis.Widely considered one of the greatest voices ever recorded, he possessed an extraordinary range of vocal abilities and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours. Extending the 600-year old Qawwali tradition of his family, Khan is widely credited with introducing Qawwali music to international audiences. He is popularly known as "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali", meaning "The Emperor of Qawwali".
Born in Faisalabad, Khan had his first public performance at the age of 16, at his father's chelum. He became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971. He was signed by Oriental Star Agencies, Birmingham, England in the early 1980s. Khan went on to release movie scores and albums in Europe, India, Japan, Pakistan and the U.S. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with Western artists, becoming a well-known world music artist. He toured extensively, performing in over 40 countries.
Awards and titles
Khan is widely considered to be the most important qawwal in history. In 1987, he received the President of Pakistan's Award for Pride of Performance 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 the same year, Khan received the Arts and Culture Prize of the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes. In Japan, he was also remembered as the Budai or "Singing Buddha". In 2005, Khan received the "Legends" award at the UK Asian Music Awards. Time magazine's issue of 6 November 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. In 2008, Khan was listed in 14th position in UGO's list of the best singers of all time.
Many honorary titles were bestowed upon Khan during his 25-year music career. He was given the title of Ustad (the master) after performing classical music at a function in Lahore on the anniversary of his father's death.
Tributes, legacy and influence
Faisalabad Arts Council's auditorium named after Nusrat
Khan is often credited as one of the progenitors of "world music". Widely acclaimed for his spiritual charisma and distinctive exuberance, he was one of the first and most important artists to popularise Qawwali, then considered an "arcane religious tradition", to Western audiences. His powerful vocal presentations, which could last up to 10 hours, brought forth a craze for his music all over Europe. Alexandra A. Seno of Asiaweek wrote:
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's voice was otherworldly. For 25 years, his mystical songs transfixed millions. It was not long enough ... He performed qawwali, 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 cited Khan as a major influence, saying of him "He's my Elvis", and performing the first few minutes of Khan's "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai" (including vocals) at live concerts. Many other artists have also cited Khan as an influence, such as Nadia Ali, Zayn Malik, Peter Gabriel, A. R. Rahman,Sheila Chandra, and Alim Qasimov. Author and neuroscientist Sam Harris cited Khan as one of his favourite musicians of all time.
Paul Williams picked a concert performance by Khan 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). The Derek Trucks Band covers Khan's songs on two of their studio albums. Their 2002 album Joyful Noise includes a cover of "Maki Madni", which features a guest performance by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Khan's nephew. 2005's Songlines includes a medley of two of Khan's songs, "Sahib Teri Bandi" and "Maki Madni". This medley first appeared on the band's live album Live at Georgia Theatre (2004).
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 Khan. The 13-piece group still performs mostly instrumental jazz versions of Khan's qawwalis, using the instruments conventionally associated with jazz rather than those associated with qawwali.
In 2007, electronic music producer and performer Gaudi, after being granted access to back catalogue recordings from Rehmat Gramophone House (Khan's former label in Pakistan), released an album of entirely new songs composed around existing vocals. The album, Dub Qawwali, was released by Six Degrees Records. It reached no. 2 in the iTunes US Chart, no. 4 in the UK and was the no. 1 seller in Amazon.com's Electronic Music section for a period. It also earned Gaudi a nomination for the BBC's World Music Awards 2008.
On 13 October 2015, Google celebrated Khan's 67th birthday with a doodle on its homepage for India, Pakistan and Japan among other countries, calling him the person "who opened the world's ears to the rich, hypnotic sounds of the Sufis". “Thanks to his legendary voice, Khan helped bring "world music" to the world," said Google.
In February 2016, a rough mix of song recorded by Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1998 called "Circle of the Noose" was leaked to the internet. Guitarist Dave Navarro described the song saying "It's pop in the sense of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, hook. I really love it and we use a loop of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It's really nice. The best way I can describe it is it's like pepped- up '60s folk with '90s ideals, but I would hate to label it as folk because it's not, it moves."
Films
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 docudrama focuses on Khan'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 introduction to Khan's life and work.)
Samandar Main Samandar (2007). A documentary aired on Geo TV detailing Khan's career.
The King of Qawalli (2009). A short film aired on Dawn News about Khan'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 Khan and Party (two Urdu-language songs: a Hamd, and a Manqabat for Khwaja Mu'inuddin Chishti. Filmed in Tokyo, Japan, 20 September 1987, for Asian Traditional Performing Arts).
Nusrat! Live at Meany (1998). Produced by the University of Washington. 87-minute recording of a concert of 23 January 1993 at Meany Hall, University of Washington in Seattle, during Khan's residency at the ethnomusicology program there.
Live in Concert in the UK, (DVD, vols. 1–17) [Khokhar Productions]; recorded between 1983 and 1993
Akhiyan Udeek Diyan (DVD) [Khokhar Productions]
Je Tun Rab Nu Manauna (DVD) [Khokhar Productions]
Yaadan Vicchre Sajan Diyan Aayiyan (DVD) [Khokhar Productions]
Rang-e-Nusrat (DVD, vols. 1–11) [Music Today]; recorded between 1983 and 1993 (same material as the Khokhar Productions)
VHS videotapes, vols. 1–21 [Khokhar Productions]; recorded between 1983 and 1993 (same material as the Khokhar Productions)
Luxor Cinema Birmingham (VHS vol. 1, 1979), Khokhar Productions
Digbeth Birmingham (VHS vol. 2, 1983), Khokhar Productions
St. Francis Hall Birmingham (VHS vol. 3, 1983), Khokhar Productions
Royal Oak Birmingham (VHS vol. 4, 1983), Khokhar Productions
Private Mehfil (Wallace Lawley Centre, Lozells Birmingham, November 1983) (VHS vol. 5), Khokhar Productions
Private Mehfil (VHS vol. 6, 1983), Khokhar Productions
Natraj Cinema Leicester (VHS vol. 7, 1983), Khokhar Productions
Live in Southall (VHS vol. 8), Khokhar Productions
Live in Bradford (VHS vol. 9, 1983), Khokhar Productions
Live in Birmingham (VHS vol. 10, 1985), Khokhar Productions
Allah Ditta Hall (VHS vol. 11, 1985), Khokhar Productions
Harrow Leisure Centre (VHS vol. 12), Khokhar Productions
University of Aston (VHS vol. 13, 1988), Khokhar Productions
Aston University (VHS vol. 14, 1988), Khokhar Productions
WOMAD Festival Bracknell (VHS vol. 15, 1988), Khokhar Productions
Live in Paris (VHS vol. 16, 1988), Khokhar Productions
Poplar Civic Centre London (VHS vol. 17), Khokhar Productions
Imperial Hotel Birmingham (VHS vol. 18, 1985), Khokhar Productions
Slough Gurdawara (SHABADS) (VHS vol. 19), Khokhar Productions
Imran Khan Cancer Appeal (VHS vol. 20), Khokhar Productions
Town Hall Birmingham (VHS vol. 21, 1993), Khokhar Productions
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