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Qawwali Today: Keeping a Centuries-Old Tradition Alive

Qawwali is devotional Sufi music built on call-and-response singing, handclaps, harmonium and tabla — a form that is centuries old and still fills venues today. Its modern global ambassador was Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, born on October 13, 1948, in Faisalabad, who earned the title "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali" and carried the genre to audiences far beyond South Asia before his death in London on August 16, 1997, at the age of 48.

The Nusrat effect

Nusrat recorded around 125 albums as a qawwali artist, received Pakistan's Pride of Performance award in 1987, and earned a Grammy nomination for his album Intoxicated Spirit in 1997. His collaborations with British musician Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack album Passion and with Canadian guitarist Michael Brook on Mustt Mustt and Night Song showed that qawwali could meet Western sounds without losing its spiritual core. His vocals also appeared on international film soundtracks including The Last Temptation of Christ, Natural Born Killers and Dead Man Walking.

A living tradition

Qawwali did not freeze when Nusrat died. His nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has carried the family tradition to new audiences, and a new generation keeps rediscovering the repertoire. Young artists cover and reinterpret classics — recent renditions of Nusrat-era songs have racked up tens of millions of views online — while Punjabi star Karan Aujla paid tribute with "Main Khair Mangda" at a London concert. The form survives because its heart — ecstatic, communal devotion — still moves people who have never heard of its history.

What keeps it alive

Qawwali's durability comes from its design: it is participatory, emotional and endlessly adaptable. Whether in a shrine, a concert hall or a streaming playlist, the call-and-response structure pulls listeners in. For artists working in any tradition, that is the lesson — a form survives when every performance makes the audience part of it.

From family tradition to world stage

Nusrat came from a family with a long-established qawwali tradition and took leadership of the family qawwali group after his father's death in 1964. His international popularity grew significantly during the 1980s, with performances across Europe, the United States, Japan and beyond. Young artists still draw directly on his work: a recent cover of his spiritual qawwali by Indian singers Madhur Sharma, Moin, ER and Roheb surpassed 42 million views within three months, and a drama OST inspired by his song "Meri Zindagi Hai Tu" crossed 30 million views on YouTube. Nearly three decades after his passing, his phrasing, emotion and discipline remain the standard young qawwali singers measure themselves against.

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