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Abida Parveen

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Abida Parveen
NI HI SI PP
عابده پروين
Abida Parveen in 2016
Born (1954-02-20) 20 February 1954 (age 70)
Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan
Other names
  • Living legend of Pakistan
  • Queen of Sufi music[1]
Occupations
  • Singer
  • musician
  • entrepreneur
  • composer
Musical career
OriginPakistan
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • harmonium
  • percussions
Years active1973–present
LabelsCoke studio, PTV, etc
Websiteabidaparveen.com.pk

Abida Parveen (Sindhi: عابده پروين‎; Urdu: عابدہ پروین; born 20 February 1954)[2][3] is a Pakistani singer, composer, musician of Sufi music, painter and an entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest-paid singers in Pakistan.[4] Her singing and music have earned her many accolades, and she has been dubbed the Queen of Sufi music.

Born and raised in Larkana into a Sindhi Sufi family, she was trained by her father, Ustad Ghulam Haider, who was a famous singer and music teacher. She plays the Pump organ, Keyboard, and Sitar. Parveen started performing in the early 1970s and came into global prominence in the 1990s. Since 1993, Parveen has toured globally, performing her first international concert at Buena Park, California.[5] She has also performed in Churches, several times. Parveen features in Pakistan's popular musical show Coke Studio and was a judge on the pan-South Asia contest show Sur Kshetra[6] alongside Runa Laila and Asha Bhosle, hosted by Ayesha Takia. She had appeared in various Indian and Pakistani music reality shows, including Pakistan Idol, Chhote Ustaad, and STAR Voice of India. Parveen is among The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world and has the power to induce hysteria in her audience. She is a "Global Mystic Sufi Ambassador". In the last few years, she has sung in a Pepsi commercial, collaborating with Atif Aslam for this.

Parveen is regularly referred to as one of the world's greatest mystic singers.[7] She sings mainly ghazals, thumri, khyal, qawwali, raga (raag), Sufi rock, classical and semi-classical music, and her speciality, kafi, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets.[8] Parveen sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Arabic, and Persian.[9][10][11] Parveen notably sang a famous song in Nepali language called "Ukali Orali Haruma", originally by Nepali singer Tara Devi, in a concert in Kathmandu, Nepal, and in 2017, she was designated a 'Peace Ambassador' by SAARC.

Parveen is best known for singing in an impassioned, loud voice, especially on the songs Yaar ko Humne from the album Raqs-e-Bismil and Tere Ishq Nachaya, which is a rendition of Bulleh Shah's poetry.[12] She was bestowed Pakistan's second highest civilian award, Hilal-e-Imtiaz, in 2012[13] and the highest civilian award, Nishan-e-Imtiaz, in March 2021, by the President of Pakistan.[14]

Early life

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Parveen was born in Ali Goharabad, Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan. She received her musical training initially from her father, Ustad Ghulam Haider, whom she refers to as Baba Sain and Gawwaya. He had his own musical school, where Parveen got her devotional inspiration. 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.[15][16] Later, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of the Sham Chaurasia gharana also taught and nurtured her. Parveen always remembers that she was never forced into this occupation, and she sang her first complete kalam when she was only 3 years old.

Career

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Parveen at her concert in Oslo, 2007

Parveen had already begun performing at Dargahs and Urs in the early 1970s, but it was in 1973, on Radio Pakistan, that she achieved her first real breakthrough with the Sindhi song Tuhinje zulfan jay band kamand widha. In 1977, she was introduced as an official singer on Radio Pakistan. Since then, Parveen has risen to prominence and is now considered one of the finest vocal artists in Pakistan. She has imbued Sufi music with a new identity, marking the beginning of this journey at Sultana Siddiqui's Awaz-o-Andaz in 1980.

Parveen travels internationally, often performing at sold-out venues.[17][18] Her 1988 performance in Chicago was recorded by the Hazrat Amir Khusrau Society of Art and Culture, which issued an LP of her songs. Her 1989 performance in London's Wembley Conference Centre was broadcast on the BBC. Parveen cites her motivation for international travel as being to spread Sufism, peace, and the divine message. In doing so, she also promotes Pakistani culture.

In the 1990s, Parveen licensed her spiritual ghazals to Bollywood, since her "spiritual brother", Khan, recorded songs for Bollywood. Recently, Abida also performed at the grand finale of the Sindh Festival, arranged by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Thatta.[19]

  • Abida made a special appearance in the super hit Lollywood movie Zindagi, starring Sultan Rahi, Arif Lohar and Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi in the lead cast, for which she performed her famous rendition of Sufi Sachal Sarmast's "Mahi Yar Di Gharoli Bhar Di".
  • In 2007, Parveen collaborated with Shehzad Roy on a song entitled Zindagi, dedicated to children's social problems.[20]
  • In the same year, she performed at the annual Oslo Mela in Norway.
  • In 2010, Parveen performed at London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall, along with Bollywood playback singer Sonu Nigam.[21]
  • In 2010, Parveen performed at the Asia Society's Sufi Music Festival in New York City.[22][23]
  • In 2010, she performed in Union Square, Manhattan, at the first Sufi Music Festival in New York City.
  • Parveen performs annually at the Indian filmmaker Muzaffar Ali's Jahan-e-Khusrau event, where she is reputed to be the top performer.[24]
  • In 2010, she judged the Indo-Pak venture Sur Kshetra TV Show.
  • She performed at the 2013 Manchester International Festival in Bridgewater Hall.
  • Abida also collaborated in Manchester in 2013 with composer John Tavener on the remarkable composition 'Mahamatar' for a Werner Herzog film about pilgrimage.
  • She had performed at the Holland Festival 2014 in Stopera, Amsterdam.
  • Praveen was the grand performer of the Dhaka International Folk Fest, 2015 in Bangladesh, where she also received an award.
  • In the Sindh Literature Festival, 2016, she performed the grand show and cut the ribbon on its inauguration alongside SLF chairperson.
  • In the same year, she performed at the 2nd International Sufi Festival at Karachi.
  • In 2016, she collaborated with Indian music director duo Salim–Sulaiman and an orchestra in Toronto (Canada) for a special song called "Noor e Illahi", released on Eid.
  • In 2017, on New Year's Eve Abida released 'Mulk e Khuda, a patriotic song featuring the natural sites and landscapes of Pakistan.
  • She performed in the finale of the Alchemy Festival 2017 at the Southbank Centre in London.
  • In the same year, a music video of the romantic gazal "Ahat Si" was released by Abida feat. Saima Ajram.
  • Her performance includes the annual Faiz International Festival on the death anniversary of Faiz Ahmad Faiz.

Coke Studio appearances

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Parveen began performing on the internationally acclaimed Pakistani show Coke Studio in 2010. She sang three songs: "Ramooz-e-Ishq", "Nigah-e-Darwaishaan", and "Soz-e-Ishq" in episodes 1 (reason), 3 (conception), and 5 (realisation), respectively of season 3. Parveen said she admired the programme because it offered a Dargahi environment. She commented:[25]

"This project, which Rohail Hyatt has started, is indeed great, and I would like to be a part of it for a long time. The music that comes out of this project reaches both the heart and the soul, and it always complements the lyrics without overriding the true message of the kalams. This platform builds on those messages of our Sufi elders."

She was invited back to season 7 in 2014. She sang "Mein Sufi Hoon" with Rais Khan and performed "dost" as a solo. She also performed "Chaap Tilak" (a popular Sufi poem by Sufi poet Amir Khusro) in a duet with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.

Abida was also part of season 9. Her first song, along with other artists in the season, "Ae Rah Haq K Shaheedo", was dedicated to the war martyrs.[6] After that, she sang a duet with Ali Sethi titled "Aaqa", then sang a solo titled "Maula-i-Kull".

She also performed in season 14, singing "Tu Jhoom" with Naseebo Lal.

Quotes

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  • "Pakistan seems disconnected from the outside. But it is built and runs on the prayers of our Sufi kings, our pirs. Poor people, rich people—we are all God's servants … I'm lucky. My audience is my God."[26]
  • "The songs purify the soul of a human being; the human is so involved that he has left God. The songs bring us near to God, near the Almighty, so that the human soul should be purified and satisfied."[5]

Personal life

[edit]

Education

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Abida got her master's degree from Sindh and also learned Urdu, Sindhi, and Persian specifically.

Marriage and family

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In 1975, Abida married Ghulam Hussain Sheikh, senior producer at Radio Pakistan, who had retired from his job in the 1980s to manage and mentor Parveen's career. After he died of a heart attack on an international flight in the early 2000s, their daughter Maryam took up that role. There is a sense that Parveen's career has taken a more commercial route as a result of it.[18] The couple has two daughters, Pereha Ikram and Maryam Hussain, and a son, Sarang Latif, who is a music director. All three children act as her advisors.[17] Her family understands her need for riyaz (daily vocal music practice) and the required space to do that practice.[27]

[edit]

Parveen is also interested in the arts. She owns the Abida Parveen Gallery, which features jewellery, paintings, her music CDs, an awards section, and garments and accessories. It is run by her daughters.[28] She also has her own music recording studio there.

Clothing style

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Parveen has a distinctive clothing style that she has created herself for ease and comfort. She wears long, simple frocks buttoned up to the top with loose arms with or without cuffs and covered with a coat. She is always accompanied by an Ajrak, a Sindhi shawl, which she claims comes from the dargah (mausoleum) of Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, and her wardrobe is full of it.

Other

[edit]

Parveen has taken Bayyat and became a disciple of Najeeb Sultan, her spiritual master. Parveen suffered a heart attack during a performance in Lahore on 28 November 2010.[29] Angiography and angioplasty were performed on her. She regained her health soon after.

Awards and recognitions

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Parveen with the Pushto singer Fazal Malik Akif in Manchester, 1994.

Filmography

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Despite Parveen's renown, she has never sung for the cinema industry; her existing work has been repurposed and used in films, however, at the insistence of proponents such as Farooq Mengal. Parveen revealed in interviews that she has received offers from Bollywood filmmakers such as Subhash Ghai and Yash Chopra. Shah Rukh Khan requested that she sing in Ra.One, as did music director A.R.Rehman.[34] Parveen declines these offers on account of her Sufi faith and the commitments that it requires.[35]

Television

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Year Show Role Notes
1980 Awaz-o-Andaz Performer aired on PTV
2009 Nara-e-Mastana Performer Concert sponsored and aired by Hum
2010 Chotte Ustad Guest Judge with Ghulam Ali Eid Celebration
2012 Sur Kshetra TV Show Judge Representing Pakistan in India
2012 Shehr-e-Zaat OST Singer for Yaar ko Humne Pre-recorded from album Raqs-e-Bismil
2012 Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Special appearance with Runa Laila To promote Sur Kshetra TV Show
2012 1st Hum Awards Performer Sang Naraye Mastana
2014 Pakistan Idol TV Show Guest Judge Grand Finale
2014 Zee Channel TV Singer New Channel
2014 Sama-e-Ishq Performer Concert aired on Hum TV

Films

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Year Film Song Notes
2005 Viruddh Mann Lago Yaar
Bhala Hua Meri
Saahib Mera Ek 		From her album "Kabir by Abida"
2008 Zill-e-Shah Sajjan de Haath Pre-recorded
2013 Ishq Khuda Title Track Pre-recorded
Winner-1st ARY Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer
2015 Jaanisaar Sufiye Ba Safa Manam (female) Indian film by Muzaffar Ali
2015 Bin Roye Maula Maula with Zeb Bangash
Winner-15th Lux Style Awards for Best Female Playback Singer
2017 Rangreza Phool Khil Jayein with Asrar (musician)

Discography

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Main article: Abida Parveen discography

References

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  1. ^ "Abida Parveen, the Queen of Sufi music talks to Saima Ajram about her career, her childhood and her thoughts on the month of Ramadhan". BBC RADIO ASIAN NETWORK. 14 July 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Abida Parveen: The Soul of Sufi Music". Global Village Space. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  3. ^ Iqbal, Nosheen (8 July 2013). "Abida Parveen: 'I'm not a man or a woman, I'm a vehicle for passion'". The Guardian (newspaper). Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  4. ^ "You can't listen to them if you can't afford them…". The Express Tribune. 14 July 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  5. ^ a b EPSTEIN, BENJAMIN (18 September 1993). "Cleansing Soul Singer Has Purification Motives : Music: Abida Parveen of Pakistan tries to spread a message of love and induce a state of spiritual ecstasy with her Sufi mystic songs". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b Images Staff (8 August 2016). "Amjad Sabri, Rahat Fateh, Abida Parveen kick-start Coke Studio 9 with an emotional tribute". Pakistan: Dawn. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  7. ^ Madhumita Dutta (2008). Let's Know Music and Musical Instruments of India. Star Publications. p. 56. ISBN 9781905863297.
  8. ^ Culshaw, Peter (14 September 2001). "Singer with the knock-out effect". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  9. ^ Neil Strauss (15 October 1996). "Ecstasy In Songs Of the Sufi". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  10. ^ Mary Talbot (11 October 1996). "MYSTICAL SINGER'S MUSIC IS THE MESSAGE". Daily News. Archived from the original on 5 April 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  11. ^ Abida Parveen World music: the basics, by Richard Nidel. Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0-415-96800-3. p.247.
  12. ^ Anna S. King, J. L. Brockington (2005). The Intimate Other: Love Divine in Indic Religions. Orient Blackswan. p. 358. ISBN 9788125028017.
  13. ^ a b "Abida Parveen's Hilal-i-Imtiaz Award (2012)". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  14. ^ "Abida Parveen, Faisal Edhi among 88 conferred civil awards by President Alvi". Dawn. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  15. ^ Begum Abida Parveen sings dil se TNN, The Times of India, 17 June 2003.
  16. ^ Mughal (31 August 2007). "SINDHI MUSIC". sindhiaudio.blogspot.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Abida Parveen". travel-culture.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  18. ^ a b Nosheen Iqbal (8 July 2013). "Abida Parveen: 'I'm not a man or a woman, I'm a vehicle for passion'". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  19. ^ Mansoor, Hasan (5 November 2016). "Sindh Literature Festival opens with Abida Parveen's performance". Dawn. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  20. ^ "Shehzad Roy and Abida Parveen Collaborate for a Cause". Sonya Rehman's Archive. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  21. ^ "Sonu Nigam impresses Abida Parveen". Oneindia.com. 8 July 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  22. ^ Pareles, Jon (21 July 2010). "Songs of the Saints, With Love, From Pakistan". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  23. ^ "First Sufi festival in New York from July 20". Dawn. 9 July 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  24. ^ "Abida Parveen: Sufi soul". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Indo-Asian News Service. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  25. ^ "Abida Parveen – profile, interview & pictures". forumpakistan.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  26. ^ Iqbal, Nosheen (8 July 2013). "Abida Parveen: 'I'm not a man or a woman, I'm a vehicle for passion'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  27. ^ "An Exclusive Interview with Abida Parveen- The Reigning Queen of Sufi Music". Fuchsia. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  28. ^ Vaqas Asghar (21 July 2012). "A store that's jewellery will 'set it apart'". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  29. ^ "Abida Parveen suffers heart attack during performance". The Express Tribune (newspaper). 28 November 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  30. ^ "Abida Parveen profile". Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  31. ^ "PTV Awards 1998", PTV (News), 10 October 2019, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 29 June 2021
  32. ^ a b Com, Dawn (9 October 2012). "India honours Abida Parveen with lifetime achievement award". Dawn. Pakistan. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  33. ^ Wonder Women of Pakistan Award (winners) Archived 31 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 November 2018
  34. ^ Bharti Dubey (31 August 2012). "Abida Parveen and Runa Laila to spread love in India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  35. ^ "Bollywood can wait: Abida Parveen". Deccan Herald. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
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