Muhammad Yousuf ( Sindhi: استاد محمد يوسف) (January 20, 1940 – February 14, 1997) was a folk and playback singer of

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# ...

Childhood

Muhammad Yousuf was born in Muhalla Din Ali Shah, Tiyoon Number Talau, Tando Tayeb

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. His father Laung Faqir Maganhar was a Dholak Nawaz (drum beater) and Sharnai (or Shahnai) player. His father used to play Dholak at Radio Pakistan Hyderabad. Yousuf attended Baar Sudhar School and Haji Seth Kamaluddin School Hyderabad. However, he was not interested in formal education and left school after passing five classes. He joined the musical club of Bibo Khan. Afterwards, his father sent him to noted singer Manzoor Ali Khan at

Tando Adam Khan Tando Adam (; ) is a city in Sindh, Pakistan. Formerly part of Nawabshah district (now Shaheed Benazir Abad District) until 1955, it later became a part of Sanghar District. The word "Tando" means "outpost" in Sindhi language and Tando Adam, ...

. He studied with him for about thirteen years. In 1951, a competition of new singers was organized at Liaquat Medical College (Now

Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences The Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) () is a public medical university located in Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan. Ever since it started as a medical school, it is known for its mission to bring innovative advances to medic ...

)

Jamshoro Jamshoro (, ) is a city and the capital of Jamshoro District, in Sindh, Pakistan. It is on the right bank of the Indus River, approximately northwest of Hyderabad and northeast of the provincial capital of Sindh, Karachi. This city is popula ...

. The Provincial Minister Ali Muhammad Rashidi was the chief guest of the event. Muhammad Yousuf not only participated in that competition but got first position and lot of appreciation and encouragement. Then, he started singing at Radio Pakistan Karachi. After the establishment of Radio Pakistan Hyderabad in 1955, he shifted 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 ...

to his home town

Singing career

After early success at Radio Pakistan, he started singing in Sindhi films as a

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

. His first film as a playback singer was Shehro Feroz which was released on 18 October 1968 from Karachi. This film was directed by Shaikh Hassan and its music composer was Ghulam Ali. His first play back lyric "Rahat Milay Thi Dard Men, Man Piyar Tan Sadqay" made him very popular in film industry. He continued as a playback singer in almost all Sindhi films released in the 1970s and 1980s. As a playback singer, he sang with many famous singers such as Madam Noor Jahan,

Abida Parveen Abida Parveen (; ; born 20 February 1954) is a Pakistani singer, composer, musician of Sufi music, painter and an entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest-paid singers in Pakistan. Her singing and music have earned her many accolades, and s ...

Runa laila Runa Laila (born 17 November 1952) is a Bangladeshi playback singer and composer. She started her career in the Pakistani film industry in the late 1960s. Her style of singing is inspired by Pakistani playback singer Ahmed Rushdi and also f ...

and others. He sang the poetry of Shah Abdul Latif,

Sachal Sarmast Sachal Sarmast or Sacho Sarmast (; – 1827), was an 18th and 19th century Sindhi Sufi poet, mystic and philosopher from Daraza (present-day Sindh, Pakistan), regarded as an important figure in the Sindhi-language literature. He is revered ...

, Misri Shah and other Sufi poets of Sindh. He also performed in

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and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Muhammad Yousuf not only sang in Sindhi but also in Seraiki and

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 ...

languages.

Honors and awards

Muhammad Yousuf received two Pride of Performance awards, four Shah Latif Awards, Four Qalendar Shahaz Awards and three Sachal Awards.

References

{{reflist 1940 births 1997 deaths Sindhi-language singers Singers from Sindh 20th-century Pakistani male singers 20th-century Pakistani singers Pakistani male singer-songwriters Pakistani singer-songwriters Pakistani folk singers Sindhi playback singers People from Hyderabad, Sindh Recipients of Latif Award Pakistani playback singers