Legendary classical musician Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan passes away

Legendary classical vocalist and musician Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan passed away in Mumbai on Sunday. The 89-year-old veteran artist was having health issues for quite some time.

Ghulam Mustafa Khan was born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh, on March 3, 1931.

His mother was the daughter of the great Ustad Inayat Hussain Khan and music was the legacy of his family.

Inayat Hussain Khan was also the court musician during the reign of Wajid Ali Shah.

Since Ghulam Mustafa Khan's parents wanted him to be a singer, his training in music started at a very young age.

After his father, he was trained by Ustaad Fida Hussain Khan who was the court singer at the Baroda's royal durbar, and then from Nissar Hussain Khan. The traditional styles of Rampur, Gwalior and Sahaswan gharanas were, therefore, part of his performances.

His first song ‘Chand Pretticha’ was in Marathi language. From 1957, he started singing playback for Marathi and Gujarati films. He started with Mrinal Sen’s ‘Bhuvan Shome’ and sang ‘Sajanaa kahe nahi aaye...’ for ‘Badnaam Basti’ under the same music director, Vijay Raghav Rao. He played the role of Baiju Bawra in a German documentary "Rain Maker", shot in Jaipur, besides being playback singer in the same film.

He has given his voice to more than 70 documentaries, films made by Films Division, many of them receiving international and national awards. He has performed across India and European countries.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1991, followed by Padma Bhushan in 2006 and Padma Vibhushan in 2018.

In 2003 he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama.

Condoling his death, melody queen Lata Mangeshkar tweeted: “Mujhe abhi abhi ye dukhad khabar mili hai ki mahan shastriya gayak Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan Saheb is duniya mein nahi rahe. Ye sunke mujhe bahut dukh hua. Wo gayak to acche the hee par insaaan bhi bahut acche the.”

“The sweetest teacher of all ..May the Ghafoor-ur-Rahim give you a special place in the next world,” tweeted legendary musician AR Rehman.