Dubbed “the Pavarotti of the East, the Magnificent, the Voice of Ecstasy, the Messenger of Peace, the Singing Buddha,” Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was, above all, an Ustad: a master. No matter what name he went by, his power of enchantment remained enormous. For posterity though, he will join a pantheon of those others referred to by a single moniker, such as Miles, Elvis, João, or Fela, and be known simply as Nusrat. Like the other greats, the Pakistani Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan left his own unique mark in music, a brand name that became a universal reference. His life came to an early end in the last years of the twentieth century, and it is now time to cast a look back over a truly exceptional career, to a time in Nusrat’s life before his phenomenal global success.
