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Google pays homage to the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Google pays homage to the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

On what would have been his 67th birthday, the Google doodle was an illustration of the musical maestro
13 Oct, 2015

On what would have been Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's 67th birthday, mammoth search engine Google dedicated its doodle to the legendary Sufi qawwal.

The Google doodle is an illustration of Khan with the signature hand raised in the air, performing with the rest of his qawwal party in the background.

When speaking about Nusrat and his crew back in the day, famous Hollywood singer, Jeff Buckley said: “These men do not play music, they are music itself.”
When speaking about Nusrat and his crew back in the day, famous Hollywood singer, Jeff Buckley said: “These men do not play music, they are music itself.”

Born in Faisalabad, hailing from a family of qawwals, Khan had his first public performance at age of 16, at his father's chehlum.

In an interview in 1996, the singer said he dreamed of his father placing his hand on his throat, awakening his voice. By 1971, he had become the leader of the family's party. He kept up with changing times, slightly speeding up the songs to make them more appealing for that generation.

Popularly known as Shahenshah-e-Qawwali meaning 'The King of Kings of Qawwali', Khan is widely credited with introducing qawwali music to international audiences.

Time magazine's issue of November 2006, "60 Years of Asian Heroes" lists him as one of the top 12 artists and thinkers in the last 60 years
Time magazine's issue of November 2006, "60 Years of Asian Heroes" lists him as one of the top 12 artists and thinkers in the last 60 years

During his lifetime, he collaborated with many foreign artists such as Eddie Vedder, Peter Gabriel, Jeff Buckley, Michael Brook, to name a few; he even taught as a visiting faculty member at University of Washington in Seattle for some time.

The Halka Halka Suroor Hai vocalist also holds the Guinness world record for producing the largest recorded output by a qawwali artist — a total of 125 albums as of 2001.

Many fans worldwide celebrated his birthday and mourned his loss.

British novelist, music journalist, and biographer, Chris Nickson said: "There are great singers, and then there are those few voices that transcend time. The late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan could not only transcend time, but also language and religion."

"There was magic when he opened his mouth, a sense of holy ecstasy that was exciting and emotional. It wasn’t uncommon even for Western listeners, who didn’t understand a word he was singing or follow his Sufi traditions, to be moved to tears upon hearing him."

He died of a sudden cardiac arrest on 16 August, 1997 but had also suffered from liver and kidney issues for some time before he passed away. He is survived by a daughter.

Comments

Akram Oct 13, 2015 01:29pm
England Gave us Shakespeare, but he does not compare with our own Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I fell in love with his music at university. He sings about faith, love everything young people need to learn about.
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Rashid Ishaq Oct 13, 2015 01:42pm
Thank you Google. To be honest, I came to know about NFAK's birthday just by your homage. HBD NFAK.
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Rashid Ishaq Oct 13, 2015 01:45pm
Worth listening to Nusrat, Saqi yeh dua hai tera iqbal buland, maikhane mein insan to mil jate hain
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dawar Oct 13, 2015 03:13pm
Ni main jana jogi de naal... Miss you khan sahab
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Amer Rao Oct 13, 2015 03:34pm
A real iconic Sufi legend singer.
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FARHAN Oct 13, 2015 03:35pm
CEO of google is of Indian Origin
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Arshad Oct 13, 2015 04:52pm
A true soul dedicated to music, leaving his impact from east to west and across boundaries of language & religion. He may be described as the peak of subcontinental music with centuries old traditions documented since the time of Akbar the Great.
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Ali Raza Oct 13, 2015 05:10pm
I think its only on the '.PK' page. not the international page of google
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SBB Oct 13, 2015 05:20pm
Pure love for Nusrat. He was terrific and immortalized by his songs.
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Hammad Rauf Oct 13, 2015 05:27pm
It is distributed localized cyber marketing. Google is promoting it's image through cleverly targeted doodles. Nusrat was no doubt a legend. Well played Google for royalty free brand promotion, even on daily Dawn.
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Sajid Ibrahim Oct 13, 2015 05:35pm
@FARHAN and ?
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Magister Oct 13, 2015 05:57pm
His voice was not that magical as it is portrayed to be neither was his qalam selection. But record labels adore him hence he is celebrated and adored.
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Hassan Oct 13, 2015 06:06pm
@Ali Raza : Its on google India, Pakistan and Japan page.
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Syed Hussain Akbari Oct 13, 2015 07:45pm
@Ali Raza Yes Ali is right. I tried to find it on other pages also. It exists only on Pakistan page and no where else. Google, thus counts him as regional hero only. Even then Thank you.
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srirama Oct 13, 2015 08:07pm
I'm from India who believes very firmly that as a South Indian have very little in common with North India, let alone Pakistan. I don't long for India-Pak reunion or anything of that sort. Perfectly fine with Pakistan as a separate entity and it should remain that way. So, I don't need to patronize Pakistan or Pakistanis. However, this statement is from bottom of my heart, Nusrat Fateh Saab is probably greatest singer ever walked this earth. My favorite is "Barson Ka Intezaar ka" (Waiting for years) is the most uplifting song I ever heard. Probably one of the things in life I sincerely rue is not being able to hear this man in live.
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Khalid Oct 14, 2015 12:00am
In 1993 I had the pleasure of meeting the "great man" himself in person, whilst I was on vacation from Scotland in Lahore. Nusrat sahab was living in the same neighbourhood, and when I it was pointed out that this was his residence, it was "impossible" not to "ask the security guards" that I wanted to see the "great man in person" We we allowed to enter the residence met the "great man in person, did a photo shoot" That was the "best meeting ever" I was introduced to Nusrat sahab's qawali through several of my Scottish friends who listened to his qawalis but did not understand the language!
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K.Sundar Oct 14, 2015 01:24am
@srirama : You are a misguided poor chap.
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Dr.Cajetan Coelho Oct 15, 2015 12:29am
Long live the memory of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
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