Mehdi Hassan, the India-born Pakistani ghazal maestro, passed away at a Karachi hospital Wednesday after a prolonged illness. He was 84.
His son Arif told Geo News that his father died of breathing complications at a private nursing home in Karachi.
The ghazal king had been discharged from hospital only last month. He was back in hospital only a day later but was not put on a ventilator.
“My father has been ill for the last 12 years but this year, his condition has deteriorated significantly… in the last one month,” said Arif. “He was released from hospital for just one day before being admitted again.”
Hassan, who has a huge fan following all over the world, had been suffering from lung, chest and urinary tract ailments for the past many years.
Hassan leaves behind his nine sons and five daughters. He married twice. Both his wives are dead.
Born into a family of musicians (on 18th July 1927) in a small village in Rajasthan, Mehdi for a long time could not pursue his passion. The ghazal maestro was trained at home in his initial years by his father Ustad Azeem Khan and uncle Ustad Ismail Khan who were traditional Dhrupad singers. Being the 16th generation of a musical family, young Hassan had harbored to make a career out of music. But fate had a different plan for him in the initial stage.
The family was plagued by financial troubles when they shifted to Pakistan during partition. Young Hassan started working in a bicycle shop and later became a car mechanic. But as they say, the passion never died. He continued to pursue his interest, his passion albeit behind closed doors, within the vicinity of his home.
His first break came in 1957 when he got the opportunity to sing a thumri number for Radio Pakistan. The number got him instant recognition in the musical fraternity and he got more offers to sing.