Pervaiz Mehdi dies of heart attack

Staff Report

LAHORE: Noted ghazal singer Pervaiz Mehdi died of heart attack on Monday. He was rushed to Shalamar Hospital after feeling a pain in his chest at around 11:30am but could not be saved.

Mehdi, 58, started his singing career in the 1960s and sang songs for about 30 films. He was a pupil of legendary singer Mehdi Hasan. The song that marked his rise to fame was a duet with Reshman called ‘Mein jana perdes’.

Mehdi’s daughter Wajiha told Daily Times that her father had a liver problem. “He had a severe pain in his liver before the heart attack,” she said. “The funeral will take place on Wednesday, because my brother and uncle have to come from USA.”

On August 14, Mehdi was awarded with Pride of Performance which was to be handed to him on March 23. Remarkably, Mehdi’s was born on August 14, 1947 in Lahore.

He recorded his last television programme on August 13 in which he sang a song for programme Mehfil produced by Asad Jamil. On Monday, he was supposed to sing a song at a musical evening being hosted by Attaullah Esa Khailvi.

Mehdi was an honorary life member of Lahore Press Club. He toured a number of countries in his life and earned popularity in India by singing Punjabi songs.

Once talking to Daily Times, Mehdi regretted that classical and semi-classical singers on the electronic media had no voice. He felt that both TV and radio did not have a soft corner for classical singers.

PTV Lahore General Manager Ashraf Azeem and a number of musicians expressed grief on the death of Pervaiz Mehdi and said that the country had lost a great singer who had enthralled music listeners for many years.

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