KARACHI: The 83rd birth anniversary of versatile playback singer Ahmed Rushdi is being observed today.
Ahmed Rushdi is regarded as one of the most versatile playback singers of Pakistan, his ability to sing both happy and sad songs made him indispensable for more than two decades.
He is acclaimed as one of the greatest singers ever lived in South Asia and was a natural baritone yet could sing high tenor notes with ease. Born in Hyderabad Deccan (India), he migrated to Pakistan and became a leading singer in the Pakistan film industry.
He is considered to be one of the most versatile vocalists of the subcontinent and was capable of singing variety of songs. He is also considered to be the first regular pop singer of South Asia and credited as having sung the “first-ever South Asian” pop song “Ko-Ko-Ko-reena.”
In 1954 he recorded the official National anthem of Pakistan with several other singers. Rushdi has recorded the highest number of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema. He suffered from poor health during the later part of his life and died of a heart attack at the age of 48 after recording approximately 5 000 film songs for 583 released films. Besides popular music Rushdi also helped popularize the ghazals of Naseer Turabi.
