KARACHI, June 3: Renowned playback singer Mujeeb Alam died of heart failure late Wednesday night. He was 56. He is survived by his wife and a daughter.

His funeral prayers were held on Thursday afternoon at a mosque near his residence in Gulshan-i-Maymar. He was laid to rest at the Sakhi Hasan graveyard.

The Soyem will be held on Saturday after Zohr prayers at his residence, R-46, Sector Z-6, Gulshan-i-Maymar, off Super Highway. His daughter Hina Mujeeb told Dawn that there was a power breakdown in the area and Mujeeb Alam decided to take his family out to meet a friend in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

"We left our home at 11:15pm and as we were about to approach Super Highway, my father complained of chest pain and he felt difficulty in breathing. He stopped the car, picked up a bottle of water but fell on the steering".

She said that her father was taken to a private hospital near Sohrab Goth where he was pronounced dead. Born on September 2, 1948, Mujeeb Alam started his career at the age of 14 in Lahore. He earned a name for himself in the mid- sixties and soon turned into a celebrity dominating the world of music.

He sang almost 12,000 songs and won a number of awards. He also performed at about 500 musical concerts abroad and won the hearts of audiences by his resonant voice.

Some of his famous songs were "Main teray ajnabi shehr main", "Main tera shehr chhor jaon ga", "Main khushi se kion na gaoon, mera dil bhi gaa raha hai", and "Woh naqab rukh ulat kar meray samnay na aain".

The song which earned him real fame was "Woh meray samnay tasweer banay baithay hain" (Film: Chakori: 1967). Mujeeb Alam won the Nigar Award for the song. He also sang songs in Bangla, Punjabi and Pushto languages, and has almost 12 audio albums to his credit. His songs in Bangla were also acclaimed.