Abida Parveen

Abida Parveen is a Pakistani singer of Sindhi descent and one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music (Sufiana kalaam). She is held as one of the world's greatest singers. She sings mainly ghazals and her forte, Kafis, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets. Parveen sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Saraiki, Punjabi and Persian. She is arguably considered one of the finest Sufi vocalists of the modern era with a career spanning over four decades. Parveen is best known for her songs Yaar ko Humne from the album Raqs-e-Bismil and Tere Ishq Nachaya which is a rendition of Bulleh Shah's poetry. She was a judge on the musical show Sur Kshetra. Pakistan's second highest civilian award the Hilal-e-Imtiaz has been bestowed upon her. Parveen was born in mohalla Ali Goharabad in Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan. She received her musical training initially from her father, Ustad Ghulam Haider, whom she refers as Baba Sain and Gawwaya. He had his own musical school where Parveen got her devotional inspiration from. She and her father would often perform at shrines of Sufi Saints. Parveen's talent compelled her father to choose her as his musical heir over his two sons. Growing up, she attended her father's music school, where her foundation in music was laid. Later Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of the Sham Chorasia gharana also taught and nurtured her. Parveen remembers that she was never forced towards this occupation and she sang her first complete kalam when she was 3 years old. Official Page of Legendary Sufi Singer of Pakistan Abida Parveen