LAHORE, Aug 29: Ghazal singer Pervez Mehdi died of cardiac arrest here on Monday. He was 58. A singer in classical mould, Pervez Mehdi had been a disciple of legend Mehdi Hassan.

Born to a musical family in 1947, his real name was Pervez Akhtar. He received his initial in Hindustani classical music from his father, Bashir Hussain Rani. Later he was trained by Mehdi Hassan, who also renamed him as Pervez Mehdi. He also learnt Sitar from Ahmed Qureshi.

His first break was through Radio Pakistan in 1968. Like his guru, he composed himself. Mehdi Hassan’s influence on his compositions and rendering was considerable.

Pervez Mehdi released quite a few albums, both in Pakistan and in India.

According to APP, Pervez Mehdi rose to prominence through a folk number, Gori-e-Mein Janaan Pardes, he sang along with Reshman.

He performed for more than 30 years and sang hundreds of songs, including folk, geet and ghazal for film, radio, TV and private musical sittings.

The widely-travelled Mehdi was named recipient for ‘Sitar-i-Imtiaz’ by the President of Pakistan on the occasion of Independence Day this year.

Resident of Fayyaz Park, Mughalpura, Mehdi has left behind a widow and five children.

Family sources said the funeral prayers would be held after three or four days after the return of his son from the US.

The Lahore Press Club governing body and members meanwhile condoled his death.