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Iqbal Bano
Birth name	Iqbal Bano
Born	ca. 1927
Origin	Rohtak, Punjab, British India
Died	21 April 2009
Genres	Ghazal
Occupations	singing
Years active	1940s to 2000s

Iqbal Bano (Urdu: اقبال بانو), PP (c. 1927, Rohtak, Punjab, British India – 21 April 2009, Lahore, Pakistan) was a highly acclaimed female Ghazal singer from Pakistan.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Personal life and background 2 Career 3 Awards 4 Death 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life and background

Bano was raised born in India. From a young age, she developed a love for music. It was a crucial moment of her life when her friend's father told Bano's father, "My daughters do sing reasonably well, but Iqbal is blessed in singing. She will become a big name if you begin her training."^{[citation needed]} Her father allowed her to study music. When Bano was a teenager she migrated to Pakistan along with her family.

In Delhi, she studied under Ustad Chaand Khan of the Delhi Gharana, an expert in all kinds of pure classical and light classical forms of vocal music. He instructed her in pure classical music and light classical music within the framework of classical forms of thumri and dadra. She was duly initiated Gaandaabandh shagird of her Ustad. Ustad Chaand Khan referred her to All India Radio, Delhi, where she sang on the radio.

In 1952, aged 17, she married into a land-owning family in Pakistan^{[citation needed]}. Her husband promised that he would never try to stop her from singing, but would rather encourage and promote her.^[1] She was a star by the 1950s, singing soundtrack songs for famous Urdu films like Gumnaam (1954), Qatil (1955), Inteqaam (1955), Sarfarosh (1956), Ishq-e-Laila (1957), and Nagin (1959).

Her husband died during the 70's, after which Bano moved to Lahore. She was one of the most well known ghazal singers of the subcontinent. She won the "Pride of Performance Award" during the 90's. It was observed that her temperament was particularly suited to vocal genres like thumri, dadra and ghazal.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Career

Iqbal Bano was invited by Radio Pakistan for performances. Her debut public concert was in 1957, at the Lahore Arts Council. She was considered a specialist in singing the ghazals of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. In 1985 Bano roused a strong crowd of 50,000 people in Lahore by singing Faiz's passionate Urdu anthem, "Hum Dekhenge", although his works were banned by General Zia ul-Haq's military regime.

Music lovers noted some similarities between Bano and Begum Akhtar, especially some marked resemblances in their styles of singing. Bano's recitals stuck to a classical style that lays more stress on the raag purity.

[edit] Awards

She won the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Pride of Performance) medal in the 90's for her contributions to the world of Pakistani music.

[edit] Death

At the age of 74, Iqbal Bano died in Lahore on April 21, 2009, after a short illness.^[2].

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• BBC report of Bano's death
• Biodata
• Tribute to Iqbal Bano

Obituary in The Independent (UK) by Ken Hunt, published 5 May 2009 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/iqbal-bano-singer-who-transformed-the-genre-of-the-ghazal-1679025.html