‘Chain of Light’: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s lost masterpiece released

After the Islamabad launch of Chain of Light, a ‘lost album’ by the late legendary Pakistani musician Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, more launch events will follow in Lahore today (Thursday) and in Karachi on August 31.

This album is a collaboration between Pakistan-based Saiyna Bashir Studios, who are working on a documentary biopic about the music maestro called Ustad, and Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records, which produced the lost album in 1990.

The British Council is supporting the project, with launch events planned in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Manchester, Birmingham, London, and Paris, leading up to the official album release on September 20. Ustad, the documentary, is expected to be released in late 2025.

‘Chain of Light’ is an album of previously unheard recordings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and his Qawwal party, made at Real World Studios in 1990 when he was at the peak of his vocal abilities.

The album has been carefully restored from the original analog tapes and includes a pristine recording of the beloved classic ‘Ya Allah Ya Rehman’ and the only known performance of ‘Ya Gaus Ya Meeran.’

The tour will move then to Manchester on September 10 and Birmingham on September 11, before heading to Paris on September 13. The final pre-release event will take place in London on September 19, with the official album launch on September 20.