Jul 18, 2018
Mehdi Hassan’s 91st Birthday
Pakistani ghazal musician Mehdi Hassan sang all his life. Born on this day in 1927 into a family of teachers and musicians, both his father and uncle were accomplished vocalists from whom he learned India’s classical dhrupad and khyal music. While growing up in the Rajasthani village of Luna, he fell in love with traditional folk music as well.
Hassan’s family moved to the newly partitioned nation of Pakistan in 1947. There, he supported himself as a mechanic and practiced singing in between fixing bicycles and cars. In 1952 he appeared on Radio Pakistan, singing classical thumri music. Four years later, he recorded his first “playback” song for the movies. Hits like “Patta patta, boota boota” won him fans across India and Pakistan.
Hassan’s specialty was the ghazal, an ancient poetic form favored by Rumi and other masters of Urdu verse. Known as Shaenshah-e-Ghazal or “King of Ghazal,” Hassan recorded thousands of songs an his voice appeared in over 300 films. Throughout the 1970s he was repeatedly named “Best Playback Singer” at Pakistan’s Nigar Awards, and earned numerous other awards including “Pride of Performance” from the governments of India and Nepal.
Here’s to Hassan, whose spellbinding songs of love and longing brought ghazal to the world.
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