The 93rd birth anniversary of the legendary ghazal singer Mehdi Hassan was celebrated on Saturday. Alhamra paid online tribute to Mehdi Hassan on his 93rd birth anniversary.
Hassan was born into a family of traditional musicians in 1927 at Luna village in Rajasthan and claimed to be the 16th generation of hereditary musicians hailing from the Kalawant clan of musicians; his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947 at the time of partition and salted in Chichawatni.
Hassan began training under his father and mentor Ustad Azeem Khan. During his starting career, Hassan solely focused on Thumri, the light romantic Indian music. He debuted at the age of 30, on Radio Pakistan in the year 1957 as a classical “Thumri” singer and from then on, the singer never looked back after that.
Hassan sang hundreds of hit numbers for the movies that were not only popular in Pakistan but also across South Asia.
Lahore Arts Council Executive Director Saman Rai paid tributes to ‘King of Ghazal’ saying Mehdi Hassan is not a singer but the name of an era, an era that will never end. She stated that Lahore Arts Council has the honour of hosting many times Mehdi Hassan.
Rai said that we are grateful to Mehdi Hassan for giving Pakistan a unique identity in the world of music. She further said that today, on his 93rd birthday, Alhamra is paying homage to Hassan’s services online and we will do our utmost to protect and enhance his work and his heritage.