Ustad Muhammad Yousif’s legacy lives on: Music lovers pay tribute on 29th death anniversary

HYDERABAD: Music lovers took to different social media platforms on Saturday to pay homage to the eminent Sindhi singer Ustad Muhammad Yousif on the eve of his 29th death anniversary. Ustad Muhammad Yousif was considered one of Pakistan’s top-ranked singers, known for singing songs of various genres, including Ghazal, classic, semi-classic, and playback with ease. He was born on 14th January 1940 in the Deen Ali Shah area of Hyderabad city to Long Faqeer, a local folk singer musician. Muhammad Yousif was blessed with a soothing and melodious voice, following which his father took him to the prominent vocalist of his era, Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan, who trained young Muhammad Yousif and made him a voice to be remembered for generations.

After winning a singing competition in 1951, Muhammad Yousif formally entered Pakistan’s music industry. As a playback singer, he lent his voice to several actors of Pakistani movies, mainly those in the Sindhi language; he sang songs for famous Sindhi movies, including Laila Majnu, Shah E Feroz, Dushman, Mumal Ranu, Jeejal Mau, among others. As a Ghazal singer, he sang poems of seasoned Sindhi poets that included Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Akash Ansari, Sheikh Ayaz, Ustad Bukhari, Abdul Ghafar Tabasum, and others. While he sang songs in Sindhi, Urdu, Seraiki, Punjabi, and other regional and local languages, recognizing his decades-long services, the Government of Pakistan bestowed him with the President’s Pride of Performance Award; besides that, he received the Shah Latif and Sachal Sarmast award from the culture department, Government of Sindh.

Dr. Phulu Megwar, Asif Noorani, Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti, and Zubair Jaffrani, paying tribute to the iconic singer, said that Muhammad Yousif was lovingly called “Mahedi Hassan of Sindh” by his admirers, adding that Sajjad Yousif tried to carry on the legacy of Muhammad Yousif. They further said that Muhammad Yousif would be remembered until music was alive.

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