ISLAMABAD, July 3 (APP):The 39th death anniversary of legendary Punjabi folk singer Alam Lohar was observed on Tuesday (July 3) among his admirers and fun lovers alike.
Alam Lohar is famous for his rendition of Waris Shah’s Heer, which he has memorized in 36 styles and forms.
He was also honored with Pakistan’s highest civil award for arts and theatre the Pride of Performance Award in 1979.
He was born in 1928 and died on 3rd July, 1979.
Alam Lohar developed a new style of singing the Punjabi Vaar, an epic or folk tale which made him popular when he toured villages and towns in the Punjab region.
He is famous for his rendition of Waris Shah’s Heer along with other songs such as Sail-Ul-Malook. He recorded his first album at the age of 13 and has outsold all other singers in Pakistan at the time (Verified in records kept with HMV Pakistan 1979), Private news channel reported.
In his childhood, he used to read sufiana kalaams, Punjabi stories and participate as a young child in local elderly gatherings expressing a vocal only art form in reading passages of great poets.
From many of the gatherings out of the rural background rose a great singer that could influence his audience with elements of joy peace, happiness and sadness.
Further, he started going to festivals and gatherings on a regular basis and within these performances, he rose to become one of the most listened to singers in South Asia during the 70s.
Throughout the period of 1930s and until his death in 1979 he has dominated folk singing in Pakistan and been a major singer in Punjabi and Sufi singing throughout the entire World.
In many rural villages, the local traditional people have called him ‘Sher-e-Punjab’ or ‘Heerah’ meaning diamond.
Famous Punjabi Folk singer Alam Lohar remembered
