Sunny Benjamin John ( ur, ; 1934 – June 5, 2021), popularly known as S. B. John ( ur, ), was a singer from

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Personal life

He was educated at

St Paul's English High School , motto_translation = With zeal and perseverance I strive towards the goal , established = , closed = , type = Private primary and secondary school , religion = Catholicism , president = , principal = Leonard Dias , oversight = Catholic ...

, Karachi. He was married in 1957. He has four sons and a daughter. Two sons are musicians and one a singer.

Career

He was born in Karachi and he started his singing career from

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 Augus ...

in 1950. His inspiration was his grandfather who was also a singer. His first music teacher was Pandit Ram Chandar Trivedi at the Kalyan Sangeet Vidyala. When television was introduced in Karachi in 1967, John began singing gospel music on Christmas Eve on

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

. He also performed in stage shows in Karachi. S. B. John rose to fame by recording popular

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' 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 ...

in his vocals and music. His best known song was for the 1959 film Savera "Tu Jo Nahin Hai, Tau Kuchh Bhi Naheen Hai". The composer was Master Manzoor Hussain, and lyrics were written by a renowned poet of Pakistan,

Fayyaz Hashmi Fayyaz Hashmi ( ur, ; 1920 2011) was a Pakistani poet and screenwriter who worked both in the Indian and Pakistani film industry. He penned some memorable songs such as the famous nazm Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo and ''Tasveer teri dil mera beh ...

. This song also started the career as a music director of M. Ashraf who went on to become a popular music director in the Pakistani film industry. John almost missed out when he caught flu on the day of the recording. Fortunately Manzoor Hussain insisted he perform and was wowed by the result.

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award by the President of Pakistan in 2011 for his services in the field of music. John has been listed among the 20 best Pakistani ghazal singers of all time.

Recent activity

In November 2019, he served as one of the judges on a panel of judges consisting of veteran musicians on ''Obhartay Sitaray'' (Budding Stars) – an annual inter-school singing competition for students sponsored by

The Citizens Foundation The Citizens Foundation (TCF) is a non-profit organization, and one of the largest privately owned networks of low-cost formal schools in Pakistan. The foundation operates a network of 1,833 school units, educating 280,000 students through over 13, ...

of Pakistan annually. Indian film producer Mahesh Bhatt re-recorded John's 1959 song in the voice of his son, Glenn John. Bhatt also used this song in his film ‘Woh Lamhe’. John led a retired life in Karachi until his death on June 5, 2021.

References

External links

S. B. John soundtrack on IMDb websiteS.B. John's film song on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:John, S. B. Singers from Karachi Pakistani Christians 20th-century Pakistani male singers Recipients of the Pride of Performance Urdu-language singers Pakistani playback singers Pakistani ghazal singers Pakistani gospel singers Pakistani radio personalities Radio personalities from Karachi 1934 births 2021 deaths