Aziz Mian

"Shahenshah-e-Qawwali"
Aziz Mian Qawwal
Background information
Also known asKing of Qawwali
The Nietschezian Qawwal
Born
Aziz Mian

(1942 -07-27)27 July 1942
Died6 December 2000(2000-12-06) (aged 58)
Qom, Iran - (buried in Multan, Pakistan)
GenresQawwali, Ghazal
Occupations
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
  • poet
  • sufi
InstrumentHarmonium
Years active1966 – 2000
LabelsEMI Pakistan, Oriental Star Agencies, Columbia Records

Aziz Mian Qawwal (Urdu: عزیز میاں قوال) (b. 27 July 1942 – d. 6 December 2000) was a Pakistani traditional qawwal famous for singing ghazals in his own style of qawwali and is considered one of the greatest qawwals in South Asia.

He holds the record for singing the longest commercially released qawwali, Hashr Ke Roz Yeh Poochhunga, which runs slightly over 115 minutes. Aziz is known by the sobriquets :"Shahenshah-e-Qawwali" (King of Qawwali), "Fauji Qawwal"(Military Qawwal), since his early performances were often in army barracks, and "the Nietzschean Qawwal".

"Aziz Mian would purposely work up the audience towards a state in which many in the crowd ended up losing all sense of order and control. He would often explain this as being a state of mind from where the brawling men could be hurled into the next state; a state from where they could leap to strike a direct spiritual connection with the Almighty".