7 things that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan did for qawwalis that no one else has done

The King of Qawwali, as he is fondly called, would have celebrated his 67^th birthday today, and the world would have celebrated it with him. The artist, whose music defied all the national and international borders, was born on 13^th October 1948 in Faisalabad, Pakistan, and became known for his qawwalis worldwide.

Today, as the world remembers Khan Sahib on his birthday, we list down 7 things that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan did for qawwalis that no one else has done, or managed to do as of now.

1. He is credited for having introduced the form of qawwali music to western audiences, something that no one from the east had done before.

2. He possessed one of the greatest voices ever recorded in the history of music as a performing art, and could sing qawwalis at high intensity for up to 10 hours at a stretch.

3. He was the first Pakistani singer to have entered qawwali music into long and successful collaborations with western musicians like Peter Gabriel, Eddie Vedder and Michael Brook.

4. Talking of films, he had his name in the credit roll of several films by Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone and Tim Robbins, becoming the first Pakistani musician and qawwal to have done so.

5. He was also the first qawwali singer to have been nominated for a Grammy award, albeit both his nominated albums Intoxicated Spirit and Night Song were in collaboration with foreign musicians.

6. He is credited to be the reason behind the entry of qawwali into the world music arena, the category of music which encompasses different styles of music from around the globe.

7. He is the only singer to have had a dedicated tribute band in New York City, which is called the Brooklyn Qawwali Party, founded by Brook Martinez. The band was formed 6 years after his death, marking how he made the whole world a fan of the qawwali music.

Image courtesy Google