Mohammed Rafi

Mohammed Rafi (Hindi: मोहम्मद रफ़ी, Urdu: محمد رفیع; December 24, 1924 – July 31, 1980), often addressed as Rafi Sahib, was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. Rafi was a versatile singer and sang in many Indian languages including Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada and Telugu. He also recorded English and Persian songs. He is primarily remembered, however, for his Hindi songs, which still r... more

Mohammed Rafi (Hindi: मोहम्मद रफ़ी, Urdu: محمد رفیع; December 24, 1924 – July 31, 1980), often addressed as Rafi Sahib, was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. Rafi was a versatile singer and sang in many Indian languages including Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada and Telugu. He also recorded English and Persian songs. He is primarily remembered, however, for his Hindi songs, which still remain very popular in India today and also among the Indian diaspora. He was the leading male singer in the Bollywood music industry from the 1950s to the 1980s. Rafi was born the youngest of six sons of Hajji Ali Mohammad at Kotla Sultan Singh (or Kotla Sultanpur), a town near Amritsar in Punjab (British India). Rafi, whose nickname was Pheeko, started singing by imitating chants of a fakir in his village. In 1935-36, Rafi's father shifted to Lahore, and the rest of the family followed later. Rafi's family owned a men's salon in Lahore's Noor... less