Mehdi Hassan

Mehdi Hasan Khan was a Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer for Lollywood. One of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of ghazal singing, he is referred to as the "Shahenshah-e-Ghazal". Known for his "haunting" baritone voice, Mehdi Hassan is credited with bringing ghazal singing to a worldwide audience. He is unique for his melodic patterns and maintaining integrity of the ragas in an innovative way. 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 another contemporary playback singer Ahmed Rushdi, and it's estimated that "he sang and created soundtracks for almost 300 movies."