Abida Parveen (born 1954) (عابده پروین), is a Pakistani singer of Sindhi descent and one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music (Sufiana kalaam). She sings mainly ghazals, Urdu love songs, and her forte, Kafis, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets. Parveen sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi and Persian, and together with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is considered one of the finest Sufi vocalists of the modern era. A few years ago she has taken a Bay'ah, and formally entered into the tutelage of a spiritual master, Muhammad Najeeb Sultan. She has expressed Muhammad Najeeb Sultan as her spiritual master in many songs. In December 2009 she launched an album in his name.
Abida Parveen, was born in mohalla Ali Goharabad in Larkana (Sindh , Pakistan). She received her musical training initially from her father, Ustad Ghulam Haider, and later from Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of the Sham Chorasia gharana. Growing up, she attended her father's music school, where her foundation in music was laid
Abida Parveen embarked upon her professional career from Radio Pakistan, Hyderabad, in 1973. Her first hit was the Sindhi song “Tuhinje zulfan jay band kamand widha”. bida was married to Ghulam Hussain Sheikh, senior producer at Radio Pakistan, who died a few years ago and who nurtured her development as a singer in her early years. The couple had a daughter Priya, an MBA who acts as her adviser, and a son Saranj. President of Pakistan’s Award for Pride of Performance (1982), and the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (2005).
