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Mohammed Rafi

File:Mohammed_Rafi_2016_postcard_of_India_crop-flip.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Mohammed Rafi

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Also known as Mohd Rafi, Muhammed Rafi, Mohammad Rafi, Muhammad Rafi, Mohd. Rafi, Rafi

Indian playback singer (1924–1980)

AI overview

Mohammed Rafi was an Indian playback singer who performed vocal recordings for films from the 1940s until his death in 1980, becoming one of the most prolific and respected voices in Indian cinema. His work matters because he shaped the sound of Hindi film music during a crucial period in Indian film history and influenced generations of singers and audiences.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
2

Top works

  • Mohammed Rafi sings for 16 heroes
  • We remember

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Sound · Kotla Sultan Singh, Punjab, British India

Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and one of the most popular singers of the Hindi film industry. Rafi was notable for his voice and versatility; his songs ranged from classical numbers to patriotic songs, sad lamentations to highly romantic numbers, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona of the…

Known for

  • Final Liberation — Background singer2024
  • Dastaan-E-Rafi — Self - Singer(archive footage)2016
  • Jugnu1947

via TMDB

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
133,434
Total plays
1,768,162

Tags

bollywoodHindiIndianSoundtrackrafi

Mohammed Rafi (Urdu: محمد رفیع, Hindi: मोहम्मद रफ़ी; 24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980), was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He won a National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In a career spanning about 40 years, Rafi sang over 26,000 film songs. His songs ranged from classical numbers to patriotic songs, sad lamentations to highly romantic numbers <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Mohammed+Rafi">Re

via Last.fm · Mohammed Rafi

Key facts

Born
( 1924-12-24 ) 24 December 1924, Kotla Sultan Singh , Punjab , British India , (present-day Punjab , India)
Died
31 July 1980 (1980-07-31) (aged 55), Bombay , Maharashtra , India
Occupation
Playback singer
Years active
1944–1980
Spouses
Bashira Bibi ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1938 ⁠ – ⁠ 1942 ) ​ Biliquis Bano ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1945 ) ​
Awards
Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer (6 times) BFJA Best Male Playback Award National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer (1 time)
Honours
Padma Shri (1967)
Genres
Filmi Bhajans Ghazals Qawwali Shabad Na'at Classical Nazrul Geeti Comedy Music
Instrument
Vocals

via Wikipedia infobox

Official website

Mohammed Rafi - Rafians tribute to a true Maestro Mohammed Rafi

Rafians tribute to a true Maestro

mohdrafi.com

Link to the official site · 11,392 chars · not written by Vinony

Works in European collections

1 object attributed to Mohammed Rafi, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~26 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice; his songs varied from fast, peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award in India. In 1967, the Government of India honored him with the fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri. In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in a CNN-IBN poll.

He recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and in many Indian languages as well as some foreign languages, though primarily in Urdu and Punjabi, over which he had a strong command. He recorded as many as 7,000 songs throughout his career, spanning several Indian languages such as Konkani, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Magahi, Maithili, and many more. Apart from these, he also sang in some foreign languages, including English, Persian, Arabic, Sinhala, Mauritian Creole, and Dutch.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mohammed Rafi” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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