Indubitably, A. R. Rahman has been a strong pillar of the music community and has paved the way for all artists to come. While indulging in a few musical projects, the singer was busy scoping out talent with his online reality series, named ARRived. With a panel of credible judges like Shaan, Vidya Vox, Clinton Cerejo and the likes of them, the show stood out in the sense that it did not overly focus on dramatic sob stories or too much of diplomacy. Count on Rahman to tell you how it is.
In one of the episodes of the show, Rahman reminisced over the time he visited Pakistan, and got to work with the legendary singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Seeing a contestant perform the renowned song Gurus of Peace, he talked about how he holds it close to his heart. “The song brings me a lot of memories,” he expressed.
He further went on to talk about his whole experience. “My one and only trip to Pakistan [was] with Sony Music, we went to record with Nusrat sahab and Mehboob sahab also, the writer,” he said. “And we didn’t sleep at all, because we recorded this song early morning at around five in the morning,” he added, indicating how it was nothing short of a surreal experience.
Moreover, he opened up about the nervousness he felt while recording with a man of such a high stature like Khan. Amusingly, he went on to add how he chose the parts in the song which felt feasible to him. “I just picked the lines where my range was higher. All the tough ones was him,” he laughed.
He also mentioned how Khan unfortunately passed away about a couple of weeks after their encounter. Hence, he considers himself extremely lucky to have gotten the opportunity to record with suck an eminent personality. “We were so lucky to record this duet with this amazing singer. Legendary. And even now he influences us, all of us,” he remarked.
This whole anecdote gives off such a wholesome vibe of two of the best singers the industry has to offer. And knowing Khan as a prominent personality of the Pakistani music scene, every bit of what Rahman expressed stands plausible.
