Shamshad Begum

Shamshad Begum was born on 14 April, 1919, in Lahore, in a Muslim family and had seven siblings. Her father was Miya Hussain Baksh worked as a mechanic and her mother was extremely conservative. Begum's talent was first spotted by her principal when she was in primary school in 1924. n 1931, when she was twelve, her uncle, who enjoyed qawwalis and ghazals, secretly took her to Jenophone (or Xenophone) Music Company for an audition with Lahore-based musician and composer, Ghulam Haider. 

It was Begum's paternal uncle Ameer Khan who convinced her father, Miya Hussain Baksh, to allow her to sing. When she won a contract with a recording company, 

her father agreed to let her sing on the condition that

 she would record in a burka  and not allow herself to be photographed. 

 Her popular breakthrough came when she began singing on All India Radio (AIR) in Peshawar and Lahore from 1937.

In early 40s she shifted to Bombay and started singing in films and soon became very popular in India. She was the most popular singer during the next two decades. She died on 23 April, 2013, in Mumbai.

Shamshad Begum