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Abida Parveen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Abida Parveen is a Pakistani singer who is often called the queen of Sufi music. She was born in 1954 in Larkana, in the province of Sindh, into a Sufi family. Her father, Ustad Ghulam Haider, was a singer and music teacher. He trained her and chose her as his musical heir over his two sons. Later she also had lessons from Ustad Salamat Ali Khan. As a child she was already singing at the shrines of Sufi saints.

Music and breakthrough

Her first real breakthrough came in 1973 on Radio Pakistan with a Sindhi song. From 1977 she was officially a singer there. In the 1990s she also became known outside South Asia. She has toured the world since 1993, and has performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London and at the Holland Festival in Amsterdam in 2014, among other venues. Albums such as Chants soufis du Pakistan from 1995 and Visal from 2002 brought her music to a Western audience. She sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Arabic and Persian.

Influence

Her speciality is the kafi, a solo form with percussion and harmonium, in which she sings poems by Sufi poets. She also sings ghazals, qawwali and classical and semi-classical pieces. She is known for her fiery, powerful voice. In 2012 she received the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, and in 2021 the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, the highest civilian honour in Pakistan. She shows that mystical poetry and pop music can meet on stage.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a kafi by her, for example from Visal, and notice how her voice follows the rhythm of harmonium and percussion and grows ever more intense.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists