Biography of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

Born: 2 April 1902, Kasur, Pakistan
Died: 25 April 1968, Hyderabad

The contribution of Bade Gulam Ali Khan in popularising the Hindustani Classical music amongst the common man was invaluable. He had a very sweet voice which used to sing sweet ragas. His favourite ragas were Malkaush, Darbari, Kanbana, Kedar, Bageshwari, Bhairavi, Vibog, etc. But his most favourite were Thumri and Bhajan.

Bade Gulam Ali Khan was born on April 2, 1903, in Lahore in a prestigious family of singers. At the age of seven, he became a disciple of his uncle Kale Khan and learnt music till the age of 16. He was a Pathan and belonged to ‘Kasoor Gharana’.

In 1922, he gave his first public performance to welcome the British prince. In 1925, he participated in the Musical Conference together with his father. From then onwards he became a leading musician of that time. In 1939, his performance in the All India Musician Conference was well appreciated throughout India. In 1945, he sang twice before Mahatma Gandhi. He died on April 23, 1968, at the age of 65 in Hyderabad.