Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

, ; born 9 December 1974) is a Pakistani Singer, primarily of

Qawwali Qawwali (Punjabi language, Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nastaʿlīq, Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali language, Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali alphabet, Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Isl ...

, a form of

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

devotional music. Khan is one of the biggest and highest paid singers in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He is the nephew of

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...

, son of

Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan ( ur, ) (December 25, 1952 – September 7, 2003) was a Pakistani musician, who played the harmonium in Qawwali music. He was also a member of a well-known family of Qawwali musicians, the Qawwal Bacchon gharana (Delhi ...

and grandson of Qawwali singer Fateh Ali Khan. In addition to Qawwali, he also performs

ghazals The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a p ...

and other light music. He is also popular as a

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

and the

Pakistan film industry Cinema of Pakistan, popularly known as Lollywood ( ur, ), refers to the filmmaking industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities – Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad. ...

Early life

Rahat was born into a Punjabi family of Qawwals and classical singers in

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur (Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pakis ...

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

. He is the son of

, grandson of Fateh Ali Khan and the nephew of legendary Qawwali singer

. Rahat displayed an adoration for music from a very young age and was often found to be singing with his uncle and father, as young as three. From an age of seven, he was already being trained by his uncle

in the art of singing

Career

Rahat performed publicly for the first time, when he was nine, at the death anniversary of his grandfather. Since he was fifteen, he was an integral part of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's well-known qawwali group and toured the UK with his uncle in 1985. He also performed solo songs at different concerts, in addition to fulfilling his roles in the '' Quawalli group''. He debuted as a playback singer in Bollywood with the movie '' Paap'' (2003), in the song "Mann Ki Lagan". In April 2012 Rahat toured in the UK, performing at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500- ...

and the

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

, playing to a combined audience of over 20,000 people and creating a record of maximum ticket-sales. The song "Zaroori Tha" from the album '' Back 2 Love'' (2014) became the first original non-film music video from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...

to cross 100 million views on YouTube after two years, and 200 million views within three years of its release. Eventually it reached to 1 Billion views. He is also touring with

Leo Twins Haroon and Sharoon Leo (born July 27, 1993), professionally known as Leo Twins, are Pakistani musicians and multi-instrumentalists. Leo Twins started their career in popular TV show Nescafé Basement. The twin brothers have been a regular part of ...

from

Nescafé Basement ''Nescafé Basement'' is a Pakistani music television series which features studio-recorded performances by underground and emerging artists. The show is produced by Nescafé. The artists are recruited and mentored by Xulfi, who is also the music ...

on a regular basis.

Soundtracks and collaboration

In a subordinate role with his uncle Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, working in collaboration with

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist i ...

, of the American rock band,

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, g ...

, Rahat contributed to the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

of the 1995 Hollywood film, '' Dead Man Walking''. In 2002, he worked on the soundtrack of '' The Four Feathers'' in collaboration with the American composer of

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

and film music,

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music. Horner's first film score was in ...

. In 2002, Rahat guested with The Derek Trucks Band on the song "Maki Madni" for Trucks' album, '' Joyful Noise''. In 2006, his vocals were featured on the soundtrack of

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...

's ''

Apocalypto ''Apocalypto'' () is a 2006 action adventure film produced, co-written, and directed by Mel Gibson. The film features a cast of Native American and Indigenous Mexican actors consisting of Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo, Mayra Sérbulo, Dali ...

''.

Television

He judged the show, '' Chhote Ustaad'' alongside

Sonu Nigam Sonu Nigam (born 30 July 1973) is an Indian singer, music director and actor. He has been described in the media as one of the most popular and successful playback singers of Hindi Cinema and Kannada Cinema. He has been honoured by the Governme ...

. He was also one of the judges on the singing reality show '' Junoon'', premiered on

NDTV Imagine Imagine TV was a Hindi general entertainment channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, and based in New Delhi. The channel was known for shows such as '' Ramayan (2008), Chandragupta Maurya, ''Swayamvar'', ''Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo'', ' ...

in 2008.

Nobel Peace Prize Concert

Rahat became the first Pakistani to perform at any Nobel Prize concert, when he was invited to the concert at

2014 Nobel Peace Prize The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was shared, in two equal parts, between Kailash Satyarthi (b. 1954) and Malala Yousafzai (b. 1997) "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education" ...

ceremony. He performed

's most memorable qawwali "Tumhe Dillagi" and "Mast Qalandar", and he also sang "Aao Parhao" there.

Musical shows

Coke Studio

Rahat has appeared in five editions of the Pakistani musical show ''

Coke Studio Coke Studio may refer to: * ''Coke Studio'' (Pakistan), a Pakistani television series featuring live music performances. * ''Coke Studio'' (India), an Indian television series featuring live music performances. * ''Coke Studio Bangla'', a Banglade ...

''. He first appeared in season 1, where he collaborated with singer Ali Azmat for the track "

Garaj Baras "Garaj Baras" ( ) is the seventh track on the 2003 album ''Dewaar'' by the sufi rock band Junoon. The song is written by the band's vocalist, Ali Azmat and lyricist, Sabir Zafar. The single was selected as part of a Bollywood movie soundtrack ...

". He then collaborated with Abida Parveen in season 7 for " Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni". In season 9, he sang " Afreen Afreen" along with Momina Mustehsan which has garnered more than 300 million views on YouTube, becoming the first Pakistani song to cross that mark. He collaborated with Amjad Sabri for " Aaj Rang Hai", which was the final performance of the latter, prior to his assassination on 22 June 2016. IIFA-2014-GreenCarpet2 (160) (13998523706)

IIFA-2014-GreenCarpet2 (160) (13998523706)

He appeared in

Coke Studio Pakistan (season 10) The tenth season of the Pakistani music television series ''Coke Studio'' premiered on 11 August 2017, and ended on 21 September 2017. Strings and The Coca-Cola Company emceed the show as executive producers, while the show returned with the ...

where he performed " Sayonee" with Ali Noor and a solo number called Rangreza. Rahat's latest appearance in Coke Studio was in Coke Studio 2020 where he performed "Dil Tarpe" featuring Zara Madani.

MTV Unplugged

Rahat had appeared in ''MTV Unplugged'' (India) in 2016.

Controversy

In 2018, the daughter of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan said she intended to take legal action against copyright infringement of singers who sing her father's songs. To this Rahat responded saying he was the adopted successor of Nusrat and doesn't need anyone's permission to sing his songs. In January 2019, Khan was accused of smuggling foreign currency and summoned by the

Enforcement Directorate The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India. It is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Gov ...

(ED) of

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

Discography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Filmi singers 1974 births Bollywood playback singers Living people People from Faisalabad Punjabi people Pakistani male singers Pakistani playback singers Pakistani qawwali singers Pakistani world music musicians Singers from Faisalabad Punjabi-language singers Urdu-language singers Urdu playback singers Pakistani qawwali groups Rahat Pakistani tenors Filmfare Awards winners Screen Awards winners International Indian Film Academy Awards winners