Farida Khanum (Urdu: ) is a Pakistani classical singer from the city of Kolkata, West Bengal. She is also known by her honorific title Malika-e-Ghazal (The Queen of Ghazal) in both Pakistan and India and is widely regarded as one of the greatest exponents of the ghazal genre of singing. Early life Khanum was born in the fall of 1929 in Calcutta , British India. She had four siblings — a sister and three brothers. Her sister is the famous singer, Mukhtar Begum. Their entire family moved from Amritsar, Punjab to Lahore, Pakistan when she was 18 years old. She started learning Khayal, Thumri and Dadra from Ustad Ashiq Ali Khan of Patiala gharana. As a child, her sister Mukhtar Begum would take her to the Khan's place for regular riyaaz (practice of classical music). Her family moved to Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947. Career Farida Khanum gave her first public concert in 1950 at the very young age of 21, and then joined Radio Pakistan where she gained recognition for herself. She became a star when Pakistan's president Ayub Khan invited her to a public recital in the 1960s. Farida also acted in films and she also sanged songs for films. She has been a frequent performer on Pakistan Television and other Pakistani TV channels. The ghazal she is most associated with is Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Naa Karo written by the famous poet Fayyaz Hashmi. In 2015, at the age of 86, she sang this ghazal in Coke Studio Season 8. Farida Khanum's live concerts in India have been very popular. She also visited Kabul, Afghanistan in the late 1960s and early 1970s for concerts where she collaborated with Afghan musicians and sang Persian-language ghazals. Personal life Farida Khanum lives in Lahore, Pakistan. She has five daughters and one son. Farida Khanum has been affectionately called Queen of Ghazal in Pakistan. Filmography Film Discography 1978 Farida Khanum in Concert 1979 Farida Khanum in Concert Vol. 2 1985 Taghazzul Farida Khanum Vol 1 1980 Farida Khanum in Concert Vol. 3 1993 Farida Khanum: Meri Pasand Vol 2 1993 Farida Khanum: Meri Pasand Vol 1 Studio releases Compilations and live albums Awards and recognition References External links Farida Khanum's 2015 performance at Coke Studio (Pakistan) 1929 births Living people Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Pakistani radio personalities Recipients of the Pride of Performance Pakistani ghazal singers Singers from Kolkata