Alamgir (Urdu: عالمگیر; Bengali: আলমগীর) is a Pakistani pop singer of the 1970s, who is in fact one of the pioneers of the Urdu pop music in Pakistan[citation needed]. His style of singing is inspired by legendary playback singer Ahmed Rushdi, who is also considered as "Father of Pop" in South asia.[1]
Life & Career
Alamgir was born in 1954, in what is now Bangladesh is of Bangladeshi descent. His father Farmuzal Haq was a politician, and part of the "All India Muslim League"; a political party in British India that developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state on the Indian subcontinent. He studied in Mirzapur Cadet College, Tangail, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). He briefly studied in B A F Shaheen College, Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). At the age of around 15, he moved to Karachi in search of a future in the music industry. He had brought nothing else with him but a guitar and a passion to sing.
He settled in the PECHS area of Karachi and started singing in the evenings at a small cafe called “Cafe D Khan” on Tariq Road. He would not get paid for his gig, but did get a free meal each day. The cafe was famous for its intellectual gatherings and that is where he was spotted. His remuneration was a free meal at the hotel.Someone from the audience in the hotel liked his Guitar playing and told him about the programme at the TV station called Ferozan where Khushbakht Aliya was conducting a show for the youth. He gave his audition, Khushbakht liked his Guitar playing but she had already selected someone else. It just so happened that Sohail Rana, the music director was in the next studio and asked someone to call Alamgir to his car outside the TV station. He said, he liked his (Alamgir's) playing and asked if he would like to perform for children. This is how he entered in the formal world of Music.
He started singing on the Pakistani Television at the beginning of the 1970s when the people in Pakistan were not familiar with the modern Urdu music and when western music was generally considered as modern music in Pakistan. Shair Siddiqui's songs for the first pop musical program ‘SUNDAY KE SUNDAY’ series of Karachi Television in 1973/74 and introduced Alamgir with the song ‘ALBELA RAHI’. Albela Rahi, was an Urdu translation of a foreign language song. It proved a hit in 1973 among the youth of the 70’s. There was a time during the 70’s when the music loving boys and girls gathered regularly on the streets near the Karachi Jheel Park to get a glimpse of this pop singer as he used to travel along in his red sedan in evening. Alamgir’s second pop song Pyar hai zindagi ka gehna was also an Urdu translation of a foreign song. He soon became popular among the younger generation in the country. Alamgir is also known for his many renditions of Bengali music. The most notable Bengali song he is known to sing is Aamay Bhashaili Rey.
Alamgir made a dash on the Pakistani music scene. He sang for the Pakistani television in the very beginning of his career but later as the time passed he started singing for the Pakistani music industry. He also performs abroad. Alamgir has polycystic kidney disease, undergoes dialysis three times per week and requires a kidney transplant. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He is respected by the music lovers everywhere and still performs in live concerts in America.
Discography
Albums
- Aaina
- Hum Sab Ka Pakistan
- Best of Alamgir Vol 1
- Best of Alamgir Vol 2
- Heart Beat 1992