Asif Bhatti

Asif Bhatti is a Pakistani singer of traditional music. Bhatti was born in the Punjab to a family without a musical tradition, and had to struggle to make his way in a musical career. He developed his art at Radio Lahore under the tuition of such musicians as Ustad Niyaz Hussain Shami, Ustad G. A. Farooq, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, and Ustad Allah Rakha. Between 1974 and 1976 Bhatti brought Pakistani ghazzal (semi-classical) and folk music live to Arab audiences through national television and radio in North Africa.

Asif Bhatti is a Pakistani singer of traditional music. Bhatti was born in the Punjab to a family without a musical tradition, and had to struggle to make his way in a musical career. He developed his art at Radio Lahore under the tuition of such musicians as Ustad Niyaz Hussain Shami, Ustad G. A. Farooq, Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, and Ustad Allah Rakha. Between 1974 and 1976 Bhatti brought Pakistani ghazzal (semi-classical) and folk music live to Arab audiences through national television and radio in North Africa.

Uniquely, he was invited into the elite Nadi al-Aruba club to play before the Libyan membership on a regular basis. In 1977 he sang in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Celebrations at the Wembley Conference Centre, winning the EMI Gold Disc Award for the Eurovision Asian Song Contest, followed by first prizes in subsequent contests in 1982 and 1985. By this time he had also sung for the BBC and established himself as the 'voice of Pakistan' in the UK. Currently Asif devotes his time to the Noor Jehan Centre in London where he performs in concerts, networks with international musicians, promotes Pakistani music, and trains others in tabla, harmonium, singing, and composition. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..