ISLAMABAD, Jul 18 (APP):Google Doodle is celebrating the 91st birthday of Pakistani legendary ghazal singer Mehdi Hassan by portraying his sketch on its web page.
Google Doodle has also honored other Pakistani celebrities including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Nazia Hassan, and the great social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi.
Mehdi Hassan is known for his “haunting” baritone voice and is credited with bringing ghazal singing to a worldwide audience.
Born to a musical family, he influenced generations of singers from diverse genres, from Jagjit Singh to Sonu Nigam.
He earned numerous awards and accolades in his career and remained a leading singer of Pakistani film industry along with the other contemporary playback singer Ahmed Rushdi.
Mehdi Hassan was born on July 18 1927 in a village called Luna in Jhunjhunu district in British India into a family of traditional musicians.
He claims to be the 16th generation of hereditary musicians hailing from the Kalawant clan of musicians. Mehdi Hassan had his musical grooming from his father Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan who were both traditional Dhrupad singers.
Hassan started to perform at a young age and the first concert of dhrupad and kheyal with his elder brother is reported to have been held in Fazilka Bungla, near present DC House (1935) of Undivided Punjab.
About six years ago, after suffering from a serious lung condition for a few years Mehdi Hassan died on June 13, 2012 at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
