Farida Khanum

Farida Khanum
Farida Khanum rehearsing in December 2005
Background information
Birth name	Farida Khanum
Born	1935
Origin	Pakistan
Genres	Ghazal indianclassical music
Occupation(s)	singer
Years active	1949–2014

Farida Khanum is a Pakistani Classical Singer from the state of Punjab. The Times of India has called her Malika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazal).

She was born in Calcutta in 1935, but her family origins are from Amritsar. Her sister is the famous singer Mukhtar Begum.

She started learning Khayal, Thumri and Dadra from Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of Patiala gharana. As a child, her sister Mukhtar Begum would take her to the Khan's place for regular riyaaz. Her family moved to Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947.

Farida Khanum gave her first public concert in 1950 and then joined Radio Pakistan where she courted fame and fortune. She became a star when Pakistan's president Ayub Khan invited her to a public recital in the 1960s. She has been a frequent performer on Pakistan Television and other Pakistani TV channels. The ghazal she is most associated with is Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Naa Karo written by the famous poet Fayyaz Hashmi.

Farida Khanum lives in Lahore, Pakistan. She has one son and five daughters. She lives with her only son, his wife and children. Her eldest daughter lives with her husband and children in New York. Her fourth daughter is a specialist in endocrinology and lives with her husband and children. Her youngest daughter is a student. Sheeba Hasan is also her niece.

Hilal-i-Imtiaz Award by the President of Pakistan in 2005