Ahmed Rushdi | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Syed Ahmed Rushdi |
Also known as | Magician Of Voice (Urdu: آواز کا جادوگر) Master Of Stage (Urdu: اسٹیج کا استاد) Rushdi Sahab (Urdu: رُشدی صاحب) |
Born |
Hyderabad Deccan, British India |
April 24, 1934
Origin | Pakistani |
Died | April 11, 1983 Karachi, Pakistan |
(aged 48)
Genres | Classical music, pop, ghazal, disco, hip-hop, rock n roll |
Occupation(s) | Urdu and regional playback singer |
Instruments | Vocalist |
Years active | 1951–1983 |
Ahmed Rushdi, SI, PP (Urdu: احمد رشدی; April 24, 1934 – April 11, 1983) was a versatilePakistani playback singer and was "an important contributor to the Golden Age of Pakistani film music." Rushdi is acclaimed as one of the greatest singers ever lived in South Asia and could sing high tenor notes with ease. He is best known for his distinctive, melodious, powerful voice, complex and dark emotional expressions which led many critics to state his voice as the greatest and most distinctive they had ever heard. Born in Hyderabad Deccan, he migrated to Pakistan and became a leading singer in the Pakistan film industry. He is considered as one of the most versatile vocalists of South Asia and was capable of singing variety of songs. He is also considered to be the first regular pop singer of south asia and credited as having sung the "first-ever South asian" pop song, "Ko-Ko-Korina in the film Armaan."
In 1954, he recorded the official National anthem of Pakistan with several other singers. Rushdi has recorded the highest number of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema in Urdu, English, Punjabi, Bengali, Sindhi and Gujarati languages and found unprecedented success as a playback artist from the mid-1950s to early 1980s. He was also famous for his stage performance which had a mesmerizing effect on the audience. He suffered from poor health during the latter part of his life and died of a heart attack at the age of 48, after recording approximately five thousand film songs for 583 released films. Besides popular music, Rushdi also helped popularize the ghazals of Naseer Turabi. He was awarded five Nigar Awards, the "Best Singer Of The Millennium" title, "Life Time Achievement Award", "Legend Award" and Lux Style Award.