Legendary classical vocalist Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan passed away on 18th January in Bombay at the age of 89. His death brings down the curtains on an era of master singers led by stalwarts like himself, Pt. Jasraj and Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. He was given a state funeral at the Santacruz qabrastan the same evening. He is survived by his wife and eight children.
Ghulam Mustafa Khan mentored leading singers of the Hindi film industry, like Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, A.R. Rahman, Hariharan, Shaan and Sonu Nigam. During his lifetime, he was presented all the three Padma awards — Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan — and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar. He sang for some films like Umrao Jaan, Bhuvan Shome and Badnaam Basti. He also lent his voice to around 70 documentaries made by Films Division. He played Baiju Bawra in the German film Rainmaker.