Mohammed Rafi

Born on 24 December 1924 in Kotla Sultan Singh, Punjab, British India, the late Mohammed Rafi was one of India's best-known playback singers; a multi-faceted, adaptable and peerless national treasure who sang in all of India's national languages and whose influence can be felt outside of India. He began using his voice from an early age and learned classical music from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo, and Firoze Nizami. He stepped out as a professional singer in the Shyam Sunder-directed Punjabi film Gul Baloch of 1941, singing "Soniye Nee, Heeriye Nee," and making his Hindo debut in the 1945 film Gaon Ki Gori, quickly sealing his fate as one of India's most in-demand and talented playback singers. He spent the 1940s rising through the ranks of Indian music, landing songs by esteemed music directors such as Naushad Ali (Chandni Raat, Dillagi and Dulari), Shyam Sunder (Bazaar) and Husnalal Bhagatram (Meena Bazaar), including "Hindustan Ke Hum Hain" ("We belong to Hindustan") for the 1944 film Pehle Aap, among many others. In 1948, following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, he was awarded the ultimate honour of singing a song he had collaborated on for the then-Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He received a silver medal from Jawaharlal Nehru on Indian Independence Day in 1948. The 1950s and 1960s saw him pair up with a stream of influential music directors, including O.P. Nayyar, Shankar-Jaikishan—which turned into one of his most famous partnerships—notching up hits like “Jaan Pehechaan Ho” from the 1965 thriller Gumnaam. He received his first Filmfare Award in 1960 for the title song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand composed by Ravi. He received the National Award for the song "Baabul Ki Duaen Leti Jaa" from the film Neel Kamal in 1968. During the early 1970s he suffered from a prolonged throat infection that forced him to cut back on music but he re-emerged in the mid-1970s and in 1974 won the Film World magazine Best Singer Award for the song "Teri Galiyon Mein Na Rakhenge Kadam Aaj Ke Baad," composed by Usha Khanna. He continued to tour the world up until his death from a heart attack on 31 July 1980. He was 55. In 1984, the Guinness Book of World Records stated that Mohammed Rafi "claimed to have recorded 28,000 songs in 11 Indian languages between 1944 and April 1980." In 1998, UK group Cornershop referenced Mohammed Rafi in their chart-topping hit “Brimful of Asha." In 2013, Mohammed Rafi was voted the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN poll.

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