Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan passes away

ashwil

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Aug 16, 1997, 3:00:00 AM8/16/97

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LONDON (AP) -- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistan's most
popular singer, died Saturday in a London hospital, the
country's embassy said.

Khan, 49, was admitted to Cromwell Hospital last week when
he arrived for medical treatment and for business, said
Samine Parvez, spokeswoman for the Pakistan Embassy.

She said the singer, who suffered from liver and weight
problems, became ill on arrival and was rushed to the
hospital directly from the airport.

He suffered cardiac arrest on Saturday, and preparations
were being made to fly his body home to Lahore on a PIA
national airliner in the evening, Parvez said. Khan was
married and has a daughter.

Khan was considered one of the world's greatest singers of
Sufi devotional music. Sufis are Islamic mystics, and
among many of them, music plays a key role in rituals.

Khan's long songs of religious devotion in Urdu build in
emotion and complexity to the backdrop of stringed
instruments and the harmonium. The style is known as
qawwali.

Khan recorded dozens of cassettes in Pakistan and India,
where he enjoyed a huge, fervent following that spanned
generations.

He was renowned worldwide for his songs of religious
devotion in Urdu, long performances that build in emotion
and complexity to the backdrop of stringed instruments and
the harmonium. The distinctive style is known as qawwali.

In recent years, he gained a following in the West. He
performed in the United States and recorded duets with
Eddie Vedder on the soundtrack to "Dead Man Walking." Khan
also had songs on soundtrack for "Natural Born Killers."

He once said singing before Pakistani and American
audiences was vastly different, but he enjoyed both
because, "I want everybody in the world to listen to my
music."

"In Pakistan, when I sing, people understand my language,
what I'm talking about and where I'm going to go with my
music," he said. "In America, people listen to me because
of my voice and its fluidity."

Khan was born in Faisalabad, in Pakistan's eastern Punjab
province. For hundreds of years, members of his family have
been singers of qawwali. Khan's father, also a prominent
qawwali singer, originally discouraged him from the
profession.

In recent years, traditionalists and qawwali purists have
criticized his cross-over work.

He had completed an album Maa Tujhe Salaam with A.R.
Rahman to commemorate 50 years of India's independence.
On Friday one of his Indian movies 'Aur Pyar Ho Gaya'
starring Miss Universe Aishwarya Rai for which he has
composed music was released all over India.He has also
performed in Filmfare awards function in Mumbai
last year.Last month he participated in Karmic festival
in LA and San Francisco with other Indian artists.

Mohammad Javed Khan

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Aug 17, 1997, 3:00:00 AM8/17/97

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I was very shocked to learn that NFAK is dead. May Allah bless his
soul.

Javed

Masum Hasan wrote:
>
> In article <5t5111$h...@mtinsc05.worldnet.att.net>,
> ashwil <ash...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> |:
> |: LONDON (AP) -- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistan's most

> |:
> [...]
>
> |: "In Pakistan, when I sing, people understand my language,

> |: what I'm talking about and where I'm going to go with my
> |: music," he said. "In America, people listen to me because
> |: of my voice and its fluidity."

> |:
>
> Same goes with me who does not understand Urdu. Very sad.
> He was too young. He had so many more to offer for his fans.
> May his soul rest in peace.
>
> [...]
>
> later,
> Masum
> /----------------------------------------------------------------------\
> | Masum Z. Hasan, PhD |
> | Bell Labs (Research), Holmdel, NJ, USA |
> | mas...@research.bell-labs.com |
> | http://www.bell-labs.com/~masumh |
> | http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~zmhasan |
> \----------------------------------------------------------------------/

Masum Hasan

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Aug 17, 1997, 3:00:00 AM8/17/97

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Sunil Sethi

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Aug 18, 1997, 3:00:00 AM8/18/97

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Sad news dispite the fact he was a Paki, I liked his music.

Sunil