Mohd. Rafi

Name: Mohammad Rafi (Pheeko)
Birthday: December 24, 1924
Star Sign : Capricorn
First Film : Anmol Ghari

Mohammed Rafi was born at Kotla Sultan Singh (or Kotla Sultanpur), a town near Amritsar on December 24, 1924. In 1935-36, Rafi's father shifted to Lahore, and the rest of the family followed later. In 1944, Rafi decided to move to Bombay (now Mumbai). After participating in several chorus songs Rafi was first noted for the song Tera Khilona Toota Balak from Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946). His duet with Noor Jehan in the film Jugnu 1947, Yahan Badla Wafa Ka became a hit song. Rafi established himself as the number one playback singer in Bollywood with the songs of Baiju Bawra (1952). Naushad started using Rafi as the male voice in almost every song composed by him. Rafi sang a total of 149 songs (81 of them solo) for Naushad. In 1950s and 1960s, Rafi became the favorite singer of other composers too. Between 1950 and 1970, Rafi was the most sought after singer in Bollywood, some say, at the expense of the careers of contemporaries like Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood, and Hemant Kumar. In 1965, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Sri award. Kishore Kumar overshadowed Rafi as the most sought-after singer in Bollywood in 1970s. From 1970-1976, Rafi's output was less, but he sang several hit songs during this period. Rafi made a comeback as a leading playback singer in mid-1970s. In 1974,
Rafi died at 10.50 p.m. on July 31, 1980 due to a massive heart attack. Mohammad Rafi claimed to have recorded 28,000 songs in 11 Indian languages between 1944 and April 1980. he has sung over 28,000 songs. However, according to the available figures, Rafi has sung 4,516 Hindi film songs, 112 non-Hindi film songs, and 328 private (non-film) songs from 1945 to 1980.

Download some of the selected songs of Mohd. Rafi (Left click on the required song link)