LAHORE, June 19: Noted musician Wajid Ali Nashad passed away on Wednesday night. He was 55.

He is survived by four sons and a daughter.

Singer Ameer Ali, a brother of the late Wajid Nashad, told Dawn his brother had developed sinus problems three years ago and underwent surgery at a private hospital.

The problem resurfaced recently and he was operated again. But this time his health started deteriorating. Later, he was referred to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital because he was diagnosed as suffering from brain tumour.

He was buried in a graveyard on Multan Road on Thursday evening. Some showbiz personalities were present at his funeral, including musician Wajahat Atray, writer Pervaiz Kaleem, producer and director Asif Ali Pota, musician M. Arshad and film director Suhail Khan.

Soyem will be held at 108-Sabzazar Colony at 4pm on Friday.

Wajid Ali was the son of eminent musician Nashad. According to writer Pervaiz Kaleem, Nashad’s family migrated to Pakistan from Bombay (now Mumbai). Wajid was born in Bombay. He did his graduation from the Government College, Lahore, and then did his MA as a private candidate.

Mr Kaleem said Wajid composed music for 50 films besides some television programmes and serials. His first film was ‘Parasstish’. The other films he composed music for were ‘Bandish’, ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’, ‘Miss Istanbul’, ‘Tarap’ and ‘Zevar’.

Asif Ali Pota called his death a great loss to the film industry.