Abida Parveen is one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music from Pakistan. She received her musical training initially from her father Ustad Ghulam Haider, and later from Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of the Sham Chaurasia Gharana. Her late husband, Ghulam Hussain Sheikh mentored her and played an important role in her musical career. Today she is recognized as one of the greatest Sufi singers of all time.
She mainly sings Ghazals, Urdu love songs and her forte, Kafis, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and other instruments including the harmonium. Abida has a wide-ranging repertoire of songs originally composed by Sufi poets and sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi, Farsi and Arabic.
