Sunny Benjamin John (; 1930 – 5 June 2021), popularly known as S. B. John (), was a singer from

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Personal life

He was educated at St Paul's English High School, Karachi. He was married in 1957. He has four sons and a daughter. Accompanied by his wife and two sons namely Robin and Glenn John, John used to sing gospel on Christmas Eve, on PTV. Two sons are musicians and one a singer. His son, Glenn John was part of Pakistani pop music band - Guru's Trilogy. Indian film producer

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Mahesh Bhatt, a number of accolades, including four Nati ...

re-recorded John's 1959 song 'Tu Jo Nahin Hai' in the voice of his son, Glenn John. Bhatt also used this song in his 2006 released film Woh Lamhe....

Career

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

Radio Pakistan The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (); also known as ''Radio Pakistan'', serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate its founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in P ...

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 (; reporting name: PTV); also known as ''Pakistan Television'', is the Pakistani state-owned broadcasting, broadcaster founded by the Government of Pakistan, operating under the Ministry of Information & Broadc ...

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

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

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

Award by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

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 of Pakistan annually. John led a retired life in Karachi until his death on 5 June 2021.

References

External links

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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 20th-century Pakistani 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 Musicians from Karachi