Ustad Bade Fateh Ali Khan (; 20 April 1935 - 4 January 2017) was among the foremost Khyal vocalists in Pakistan, and a leading exponent of the Patiala gharana tradition of music. He was the younger of the legendary singing duo Amanat Ali and Fateh Ali, who enjoyed immense prestige and success across the subcontinent and beyond until the sudden and unexpected death of Ustad Amanat Ali Khan in 1974 at the relatively young age of 52. For his contributions to classical music, Fateh Ali was honoured (along with Amanat Ali) with the highest national literary award of Pakistan — the Pride of Performance — by the President of Pakistan in 1969. Along with his elder brother Amanat Ali, he was trained by their father, Akhtar Hussain Khan, a distinguished vocalist in the patronage of the princely state of Patiala in colonial British India. Their grandfather had also served as the musician – along with 'Colonel' Fateh Ali Khan – in the same royal court. The Patiala Gharana was founded in the mid to late 19th century by his great-grandfather Mian Kallu (also known as Kalu-miya Khan) who had received classical music training from the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar's court musician Mir Qutub Bakhsh Tanrus Khan of Delhi gharana of classical musicians.
Career
Fateh Ali started singing at the age of nine. The duo of Amanat Ali and Fateh Ali had a glorious singing debut in 1945 in Lahore, sponsored by the influential connoisseur, Pandit Jeevanlal Mattoo. In 1949, the duo performed at the prestigious All Bengal Music Conference in Kolkata (then Calcutta), India, which brought them widespread recognition in both India and Pakistan.
After Partition of India
Life changed dramatically for the budding stars after the partition of India in 1947, and the family decided to migrate to Pakistan. Overcoming destitution in their new home, the duo swung back while still in their teens to earn their rightful place amongst the foremost vocalists of the subcontinent. Fateh Ali was dealt a devastating blow with the demise of his brother Amanat Ali in 1974. Fateh Ali is reported to have suffered from severe depression for over a year and a half, following which he joined Radio Pakistan as a supervisor.
The two brothers neatly divided their singing by specialisation. Amanat Ali Khan had a gifted voice and he embellished his singing in broad sweeps by lagao, and blossoming out in the upper register while Fateh Ali engaged in intricacies of the countless behlawas and complex taans, in a much lower and gravelly voice, respectively drawing inspiration from two elders of their gharana, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan. One highly unusual CD released in 1992 on the ECM label is entitled Ragas and Sagas, which is a collaboration with Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Fateh Ali has performed all over the world and has many students internationally. One of his favourite students was Deeyah from Norway. She is originally half Afghan and half Pakistani. She was born in Norway. And now she is in UK and have become an Emmy Award winner film maker.
In the latter half of the 20th century, the Patiala style of Khyal singing has been represented by two streams of the gharana. One stream, gave the music world the Amanat Ali Khan and Bade Fateh Ali Khan duo. The other stream, through its training of Patiala-Kasur gharana vocalists, produced Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (1903–1968),
Ustad Fateh Ali Khan's signature vocal style has influenced many singers around the world, including classical vocal prodigy, Shyam Panchmatia, about whom the Ustad said, "we are fortunate that such young talent exists around the world; the future of our music is safe in their hands." Shyam's exposition of Raag Megh from the Patiala Gharana has been featured on the BBC after being performed internationally.
Other notable students include Amanat Ali Khan's son, Shafqat Amanat Ali, an accomplished classical, pop, and playback singer who has brought attention to several Patiala gharana compositions penned by Fateh Ali and Amanat Ali by arranging the scores in more contemporary styles. where he died on 4 January 2017 at the age of 82. His funeral prayers were held in Lahore, Pakistan. He was buried at Mominpura Graveyard in Lahore