Early life and career
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was born on October 13, 1948 in the city of Faisalabad, Pakistan. He was the fifth child and first son of Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, a musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and Qawwal.

Khan's family, which included his four older sisters and his younger brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan grew up in central Lyallpur. In 1979, Khan married his first cousin, Naheed (the daughter of Fateh Ali Khan's brother, Salamat Ali Khan); they had one daughter, Nida.

Khan began by learning to play tabla alongside his father before progressing to learn Raag Vidya and Bolbandish. He then went on to learn to sing within the classical framework of khayal. Khan's training with his father was cut short when his father died in 1964, leaving Khan's paternal uncles, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, to complete his training.

His first performance was at a traditional graveside ceremony for his father, known as chehlum, which took place forty days after his father's death.

In 1971, after the death of Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, Khan, became the official leader of the family Qawwali party and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party.

Khan's first public performance as the leader of the Qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organised by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. Khan sang mainly in Urdu and Punjabi and occasionally in Persian, Brajbhasha and Hindi.

His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style and with traditional instrumentation. The song featured restrained use of Nusrat's sargam improvisations.

Early in his career, Khan was signed up by Oriental Star Agencies [OSA] of Birmingham UK to their Star Cassette Label. OSA sponsored regular concert tours by Nusrat to the U.K. from the early '80s onwards, and released much of this live material on cassette, CD, videotape and DVD.

Later career
Khan teamed with Peter Gabriel on the soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ in 1985, with Canadian musician Michael Brook (on the albums Mustt Mustt (1990) and Night Song (1996), and with Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder in 1995 on two songs for the soundtrack to Dead Man Walking. He also contributed to the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers.

Peter Gabriel's Real World label later released five albums of Nusrat's traditional Qawwali, together with some of his experimental work which included the albums Mustt Mustt and Star Rise. Nusrat provided vocals for The Prayer Cycle, which was put together by Jonathan Elias, but died before the vocals could be completed.

Alanis Morissette was brought in to sing with his unfinished vocals. He also performed traditional Qawwali before international audiences at several WOMAD world music festivals and the single Dam Mast Qalandar was remixed by electronic trip hop group Massive Attack in 1998.

His album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy award in 1997 for best traditional folk album.

Khan contributed songs to, and performed in, several Pakistani films. Shortly before his death, he recorded a song each for two Bollywood films, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (in which he also appeared) and Kachche Dhaage. He also sang the title song of the film, Dhadkan.

Khan contributed the song 'Gurus of Peace' to the album 'Vande Mataram', composed by A.R. Rahman, and released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan holds the world record for the largest recorded output by a Qawwali artist-a total of 125 albums as of 2001.

Khan was taken ill with kidney and liver failure on August 11, 1997 in London, England while on the way to Los Angeles in order to receive a kidney transplant. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest at Cromwell Hospital, London, on Saturday, August 16, 1997, aged 48. His body was returned to Faisalabad, Pakistan and his funeral was attended by the public.

After his death, the song "Solemn Prayer", on which Nusrat provided vocals, was used by Peter Gabriel on his album Up and in the soundtrack to the film Blood Diamond.

 Composition of Nusrat's qawwali party
The composition of Nusrat's party changed over the twenty-six years that he led the party. Listed below is a snapshot of the party, circa 1983:

Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan: Nusrat's first cousin, vocals
Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan: Nusrat's brother, vocals and lead harmonium
Rehmat Ali: vocals and second harmonium
Maqsood Hussain: vocals
Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Nusrat's nephew & pupil, vocals
Dildar Hussain: percussion
Majawar Abbas: mandolin and guitar/chorus, handclapping
Mohammed Iqbal Naqvi: secretary of the party, chorus, handclapping
Asad Ali: chorus, handclapping Nusrat's cousin
Ghulam Farid: chorus, handclapping
Kaukab Ali: chorus, handclapping
The one significant member of the party who does not appear on this list is Atta Fareed. For many years, he alternated with Rehmat Ali on vocals and second harmonium. He is easily identifiable in videos since he plays the harmonium left-handed.

This snapshot is non-representative in one respect: harmoniums were usually the only instruments. Only rarely were instruments like mandolin or guitar used.

Awards and recognition
TIME magazine's issue of November 6, 2006, "60 Years of Asian Heroes", lists Nusrat as one of the top 12 Artists and Thinkers in the last 60 years.

In 2007, London-based producer Gaudi released Dub Qawwali, featuring dub reggae with Nusrat's vocals .

Documentaries
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: le dernier prophète (1996). Directed by Jérôme de Missolz.
Nusrat has Left the Building... But When? (1997). Directed by Farjad Nabi. (This 20-minute docudrama focuses on Nusrat's early career.)

A Voice from Heaven (1999). Directed by Giuseppe Asaro. New York, NY: Winstar TV & Video. (This 75-minute documentary, available on VHS and DVD, provides an excellent introduction to Nusrat's life and work.)

Samandar Main Samandar (2007). A documentary aired on Geo TV detailing Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's career.
The King of Qawalli (2009). A short film aired on Dawn News about Nusrat's life and career.