Peter Gabriel‘s Real World Records is set to release “Chain of Light,” a previously unheard album by Pakistani qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The recordings, discovered in the label’s archives in 2021, date back to April 1990.
The album features Khan with his eight-piece ensemble performing four traditional qawwalis (Sufi Islamic devotional songs), including one never-before-heard track. Recorded at Real World Studios during the same session as Khan’s crossover hit “Mustt Mustt,” the album is said to showcase the singer at his vocal peak.
Khan, a qawwali singer with a 600-year lineage, brought Sufi devotional music to global audiences. His powerful yet precise vocals earned him fans like Jeff Buckley, who called Khan “my Elvis,” as well as The Rolling Stones and Madonna. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder collaborated with Khan on the film “Dead Man Walking” (1995). A.R. Rahman featured him on his “Vande Mataram” (1997) album.
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