Ustad Pyarelal Wadali, the younger brother of Ustad Puran Chand Wadali, died in Amritsar on Friday morning after suffering a cardiac arrest, the Hindustan Times reported. The singer, who had been admitted to a hospital on Thursday, was 75.
The Wadali brothers, born and brought up in a village near Amritsar, are among the most well-known Sufi singers in India.
They began performing at Harballah temple in Jalandhar when they were young, and developed their mastery in various styles of singing such as kaafian, ghazal and bhajan. They also sang popular Hindi film songs such as Aye Rangrez Mere – in the 2011 film Tanu Weds Manu – and Ik Tu Hi Tu Hi in the Pankaj Kapur-directed movie Mausam in 2011.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal said he was saddened to hear about Ustad Pyarelal Wadali’s death. “It is an unbearable loss to the music world,” Badal tweeted. “I pray to almighty to grant eternal peace to the departed soul.”
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