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Summary Legendary playback and ghazal singer Medhi passed away after prolonged illness in Karachi.
Ghazal legend Mehdi Hassan, the melodious voice behind evergreen hits like Patta patta, boota boota and Ab ke hum bichhare, died today following multiple organ failure at the age of 84.Mehdi Hassan, who had millions of fans in India and Pakistan, had been admitted to the Agha Khan Hospital in Karachi some days ago. He had been in a serious condition and was on ventilator.My father passed away at 12:22 PM after a long battle against different ailments, his son Arif Hassan said.Hundreds of fans gathered at the hospital after the news of his death.Mehdi was born into a family of traditional musicians at Luna village in Indias Rajasthan state in 1927. His family migrated to Pakistan at the time of Partition in 1947.Hassan cut back on his performances in the late 1980s due to illness.Mehdi Hassan ruled the Pakistan film industry along with Ahmed Rushdi. He received a number of awards and honours, includingTamgha-e-Imtiaz (Pride of Performance) and Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan, Gorkha Dakshina Bahu by the Government of Nepal andthe Saigal Award from India.He song scores of hit songs for Pkaistni films. There hardly a song by him that is not popular.He immortalised the ghazals of some famous poets like Ghalib, Mir, Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Perneen Shakir. Gullun mein rang bhari and ko bako phail gai bat are two of his materpeices. Mehdi Hassan was favorite singer of Lata Mengeshkar who used to say that Baghwan speakes through his voice.
