Zubaida Khanum was a Pakistani playback singer who recorded over 250 film songs during the Golden Age of Pakistani film music of the 1950s and 1960s.
12 Facts About Zubaida Khanum
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Zubaida Khanum was considered Pakistani equivalent to Marni Nixon of Hollywood for giving voice to featured actresses in movie musicals.
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Zubaida Khanum made her debut as a singer in film Shehri Babu in 1953 in which she instantly had many run-away super-hit film songs.
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Zubaida Khanum recorded over 250 songs, predominantly solo but in duets with other playback singers especially her pair with Ahmed Rushdi attracted huge public admiration as they sang numerous hit duets during 1950s.
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Zubaida Khanum's career lasted only for 8 years but her realistic voice and convincing super-hit film songs emerged as remembrance to the golden period of Pakistan's film industry.
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Zubaida Khanum recorded over 300 film songs during her career.
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Zubaida Khanum worked with all the famous film music directors of the time including Ghulam Ahmed Chishti, Rasheed Attre, Safdar Hussain, Salim Iqbal, Khwaja Khurshid Anwar and A Hameed.
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Zubaida Khanum was born in Amritsar, British India, in 1935, in a Muslim family.
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Zubaida Khanum did not belong to any traditional gharana of classical music and never received any formal music lessons.
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Zubaida Khanum was given a head-start as a child when she was given an opportunity to sing at the Lahore station of Radio Pakistan.
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Zubaida Khanum married film cameraman Riaz Bukhari at the height of her career and quit the film industry to lead a family life.
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Zubaida Khanum died on 19 October 2013 due to cardiac arrest at her home in Lahore at age 78.