Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan makes it to Rolling Stone's 200 Greatest Singers of all time

The America-based publication dubbed the late maestro amongst the 'voices of the ages'


Entertainment Desk January 04, 2023

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, regarded as the greatest qawwali musician, has long passed away, yet the craze for his lauded compositions lives on to date. Acknowledging the legendary singer's impact on the music world, Rolling Stone listed NFAK among the 200 'greatest singers of all time'.

Introducing him as "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali," the aforementioned publication further described the artist as "an icon in the realm of Qawwali, whose family’s musical legacy stretches back hundreds of years."

The America-based magazine then highlighted the singer's ability to win hearts everywhere in the world. "It’s easy to lose track of time and to hear how his music easily reached global audiences in the 80s when he began performing abroad and recording for Peter Gabriel’s Real World label. His many famous fans included Madonna, Eddie Vedder (who duetted with him on the Dead Man Walking soundtrack), and Jeff Buckley (who called the singer “my Elvis” and studied Urdu in order to properly cover him)," penned Rolling Stones.

In the end, the magazine cited a famous saying of Khan from an interviewer in 1996, the year before his death. “When I sing, I sing with the depth of my heart,” read the quote.

On another note, popular Indian musician Lata Mangeshkar also claimed the 84th spot on the list. Rolling Stones defined her as an "empress of playback singers," "the Melody Queen," and "the cornerstone of Indian pop music."

Other singers that made it to the list were Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Billie Holiday, Mariah Carey, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Bob Marley, Usher, Chuck Berry, Stevie Nicks, Taylor Swift, and Michael Jackson.

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