Badar Miandad


Badar Miandad Khan, also known as Badar Ali Khan, was a Pakistani qawwali singer. He released several albums in Pakistan. Several albums were also released under UK and Indian labels.

Early life and career

Ustad Badar Miandad was born in 1960 in a noted family of qawwals in Pak Pattan. His father Ustad Miandad and grandfather Ustad Din Muhammad Qawwal were reputed qawwals in Punjabi language. He was a cousin and brother-in-law of the late Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Badar Miandad started his qawwali career in 1975, and by the mid 1980s, he had earned some fame. He composed the music for Bollywood films, including Virod, starring Salman Khan. He also composed the music for several Pakistani films, including Chupkay Chupkay, Lahoria, Ibrat, But Shikan and Jannat Ki Talash which won the Nigar Award for Best Film of 1999.

Popular qawwalis

Like his famous cousin, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Badar Miandad Khan experimented with qawwali remix projects, in which traditional qawwali lyrics were performed to non-traditional instruments and contemporary beats. Working with producer/arranger/composer Suresh "Baba" Varma, Badar produced a best-selling qawwali fusion album, Good Karma 1.
Khan's Qawwali "Raataan Kaaliyaan / Black Night" was featured on famous American TV show Breaking Bad's Season 3 Episode 7.

Death

Badar Miandad died on 2 March 2007 in Lahore due to a heart attack, after two years of cardiac trouble, complications from diabetes and blood pressure problems. A few months ago, he was also struck by paralysis. He had been bed-ridden for the last two years and had quit singing qawwali one year ago.
His younger brother Sher Miandad who also is a well-known qawwali singer told newspaper reporters, after his death, that he had suffered a heart attack five years ago and then suffered another fatal heart attack again on 2 March 2007, when he died.