Mohammed Rafi, a famous
Bollywood playback singer, was born in
Punjab on 25th December, 1924. He undertook training in
Hindustani classical music under the guidance of Ustad Chotte Gulam Ali Khan and Ustad Firoze Nizam. Beginning his career of a playback singer in
Punjabi movies, he soon made his mark in
Hindi movies and went on to become one of the most popular male voices of the country. Rafi gave his voice to more than 26,000 songs. His versatility was such that he could sing a
bhajan, a
khayal, a
ghazal, a
thumri, a pop song, a
qawwali - all at equal ease. Besides Hindi, he also sang in
Bengali. He was awarded Padmashree, National Award and Filmfare Award. Rafi died on May 26, 1980.
