Music greats pay glowing tributes to legendary singer Mehdi Hassan

Jumbo Editorial Team 

Renowned lyricists, music directors, singers and directors paid glowing tributes to the late legendary singer Mehdi Hassan at a condolence reference held recently at the Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi.

They described Mehdi Hassan, who died in Karachi on June 13, as a trendsetter in the singing of ghazals who was impossibly gifted to influence people and he would be remembered for centuries. 

Indian lyricist Gulzar, Ghulam Ali, Farida Khanum and Mehnaz, in their telephonic addresses, remarked that people would never forget the great singer who influenced generations by his wonderful singing. 

 “I am terribly shocked to hear about the sad demise of Hasan, who was not only a friend of mine, but a true symbol of peace and love amongst the people of India and Pakistan. In one of my poems created in the context of Aman ki Asha promoting peace and friendly ties between the people of Pakistan and India, I have remembered my great friends like Ahmed Faraz and certainly Mehdi Hassan was also a part of that grief as his death has caused a great loss to our music and culture,” Gulzar believed.

“His singing, especially ghazals, was matchless, and all greats, including Lata Mangeskar and Asha Bhosle had endorsing this fact,” he pointed out. 

“I had sung with Mehdi Hassan on many occasions and, at these occasions especially in America, I had noticed that whenever he started singing ghazals with his freshly composed musical tunes, the audience became so emotional, delightful and enthusiastic that it seemed they were sharing the singing on a more creative level,” Ghulam Ali remarked. 

“It’s a great honour for me that I sang several duets with great Mehdi Hassan and he was kind and guided me like an Ustad,” Mehnaz recalled.

“Mehdi Hassan was a great singer who would influence generations in the field of music as he had introduced a number of fresh and unique variations in the field of classical music,” Farida Khanum reckoned. 

“He was the only singer who lived his life very creatively and took the practice of singing as part and parcel of creativity. He argued that owing to this creativity Hasan sang old lyrics with a fresh treatment as a maestro of music,” Arshad Mahmood opined.