Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Urdu/Punjabi:  خان علی فتح (October 1948 – 16 August 1997 13 ;نصرت

was a Pakistani musician, primarily a singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis.

Considered one of the greatest voices ever recorded, he possessed an extraordinary range of vocal

abilities[1][2][3][4] and could perform at a high level of intensity for several hours. Extending the 600-year

old Qawwali tradition of his family, Khan is widely credited with introducing Qawwali music to

international audiences.[5] He is popularly known as "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali", meaning "The King of

Kings of Qawwali".[6]

Born in Faisalabad, Khan had his first public performance at the age of 16, at his father's chelum. He

became the head of the family qawwali party in 1971. He was signed by Oriental Star Agencies,

Birmingham, England, in the early 1980s. Khan went on to release movie scores and albums in

Europe, India, Japan, Pakistan, and the US. He engaged in collaborations and experiments with

Western artists, becoming a well-known world music artist. He toured extensively, performing in over

40 countries.