ISLAMABAD: The 16th death anniversary of legendary playback singer Masood Rana was observed on Tuesday with rich tributes paid by the people.

Rana was born in Mir Pur Khas, Sindh to a Rajput landowner family which had migrated from the East Punjab city Jalandhar.

He started his singing career in 1955 on Radio Pakistan Hyderabad and later established a music group in Karachi in the early 60's with two famous names of showbiz - Nadeem Baig and Akhlaq Ahmed.

He made his debut as a playback singer in 1962 when he sang for the film Inqalab and became one of the top male singers in both Urdu and Punjabi films for more than three decades.

Rana got a major break when renowned actor Saqi introduced him to producer and director Iqbal Shehzad and musician Deebo.

His first film song was “Mashriq ki tareek faza mein naya svera phoota hay” composed by music director N. K. Rahoor for the film Inqalab.

But he got fame from his second film Banjaran in 1962. He was popular by the name of “Pakistani Rafi”.

Rana was considered a specialist in singing difficult songs in a very high pitch and was the first choice of music directors for title and theme songs.

In 1964, his song “Tange wala khair mangda” of the film Daachi gave him unmatched popularity.

He became the most influential male singer of Lollywood when six songs of film Hamarahi (1966) turned out to be mega hits.

Rana is still the only male singer in Pakistani films who sang more than 300 songs in Urdu and Punjabi. He recorded music for more than 550 films.

Rana was considered to be the most successful singer after Ahmed Rushdi. He died on Oct 4, 1995.