Ahmed Rushdi
Ahmed Rushdi, (Urdu: احمد رشدی; April 24, 1934 – April 11, 1983) was a legendary Pakistani playback singer. He was "an important contributor to the Golden age of Pakistani movie music." He is also considered to be the first regular pop singer of Pakistan.[1] and credited as having sung the "first-ever Pakistani" pop song.[2] His voice and style was very similar to Mohammed Rafi, and was one of the singers who shaped his singing career in the shadow of Rafi’s towering legacy.[3] In 1954, he recorded the official National anthem of Pakistan with several oter singers.[4][5] Rushdi has recorded the highest number of movie songs in the history of Pakistani cinema in many languages. He suffered from poor health during the latter part of his life and died of a heart attack at the age of 48, after recording approximately one thousand movie songs for over 500 released movies.[6] Besides popular music, Rushdi also helped popularize the ghazals of Naseer Turabi.[7] In 2003, 20 years after his death, Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf awarded him the Sitara-e-Imtiaz.[6]
Ahmed Rushdi | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Syed Ahmed Rushdi |
| Also known as | Rushdi Sahab |
| Born | April 24, 1934 British India |
| Died | April 11, 1983 (aged 48) Karachi, Pakistan |
| Genres | Classical music, pop, disco, hip-hop, rock n roll |
| Occupation(s) | Playback singer |
| Years active | 1951-1983 |
Career
Actor Waheed Murad declared Rushdi's song, "Bhooli hui hoon daastan", his favorite song.[8] Music directors like M.Ashraf and Nisar Bazmi also hold centaury partnerships with Ahmed Rushdi and they have composed hundreds of songs for him. According to complete songography, M.Ashraf composed 734 songs in 211 movies for Rushdi but available figures indicate a composition of 132 songs in 100 movies for him. The first movie of this pair was Speran in 1961 and the last was Hero in 1983.[9]
Death
Since 1976, Ahmed Rushdi was a heart patient and his doctors advised him to abstain from singing but Rushdi refused by saying that music was his life. When he had a second heart attack in 1981, he was composing a musical album in the voice of singer Mujeeb Aalam. On the night of April 11, 1983,[10] he had a third heart attack. He was immediately taken to the hospital but pronounced dead by the doctors. He was 48.[11] Rushdi was buried at Sakhi Hassan Graveyard, Karachi. His last non movie song was "Aaney walo suno" which was a duet with Mehnaz.
Awards
Nigar Awards
- 1961 - Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Chand Sa Mukhra Gora Badan" in movie Saperan
- 1962 - Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Gol Gappey Wala" in movie Mehtaab
- 1963 - Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Kisi Chaman Mei Raho" in movie Anchal
- 1966 - Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Akeley Na Jana" in movie Armaan
- 1970 - Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Aey Abr-e-Karam" in movie Naseeb Apna Apna
- 2004 - Life Time Achievement Award
Ahmed Rushdi Media
Rushdi performing live on stage
Ahmed Rushdi's grave at Sakhi Hassan cemetery, Karachi
References
- ↑ Socio-political History of Modern Pop Music in PakistanChowk. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
- ↑ Logan, Stephen. Asian communication handbook 2008 (2008)AMIC. p. 389. ISBN 9789814136105.
- ↑ Suhayb, Muhammad. FLASHBACK: RAFI AND HIS CLONES (in en). Dawn (2025-08-10). Retrieved 2025-11-26.
- ↑ Mazhar Iqbal, Mazhar.dk. "Ahmad Rushdi". http://mazhar.dk/film/singers/ahmadrushdi/ Archived 2006-04-25 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2006-04-12.
- ↑ National Anthem.http://anisshakur.tripod.com/id129.html
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Faisal, Shama (2004-03-24). "Musharraf Pledges to Carry on Fight against Terrorism". Pakistan Times. http://pakistantimes.net/2004/03/24/top1.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ↑ Ahmad, Naseer (2008-03-27). "Multinationals should help promote literature: Naseer Turabi". DAWN. http://archives.dawn.com/2008/03/27/fea.htm#2. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ↑ says, Farheen Arshad. Waheed Murad – Cineplot.com.
- ↑ Mazhar.dk. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ↑ Death Anniversary.http://careers.samaa.tv/newsdetail.aspx?ID=30587&CID=1
- ↑ Pakistan Observer. Retrieved 7 September 2011.[dead link]