Rahat performed publicly for the first time, when he was nine, on the death anniversary of his grandfather. Since he was fifteen, he was an integral part of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's well-known qawwali group and toured the United Kingdom with his uncle in 1985. He also performed solo songs at different concerts, in addition to fulfilling his roles in the Qawwali group. He debuted as a playback singer in Bollywood with the movie
Paap (2003), in the song "Mann Ki Lagan". In 2011, after his release from a high-profile Customs case in India, Rahat was touring the US where one of his promoters, Chitresh Srivastava, died in a car crash. In April 2012, Rahat toured in the UK, performing at
Wembley Arena and the
Manchester Arena, playing to a combined audience of over 20,000 people and creating a record of maximum ticket-sales. The song "Zaroori Tha" from the album
Back 2 Love (2014) became the first original non-film music video from the
Indian subcontinent to cross 100 million views on YouTube after two years, and 200 million views within three years of its release. Eventually it reached a billion views. He is also touring with
Leo Twins from
Nescafé Basement regularly. In 2018, the daughter of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan said she intended to take legal action against copyright infringement of singers who sing her father's songs. To this, Rahat responded saying he was the adopted successor of Nusrat and that he doesn't need anyone's permission to sing his songs.
Soundtracks and collaboration In a subordinate role with his uncle Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, working in collaboration with
Eddie Vedder, of the American rock band,
Pearl Jam, Rahat contributed to the
soundtrack of the 1995 Hollywood film,
Dead Man Walking. In 2002, he worked on the soundtrack of
The Four Feathers in collaboration with the American composer of
orchestral and film music,
James Horner. In 2002, Rahat guested with
The Derek Trucks Band on the song "Maki Madni" for Trucks' album,
Joyful Noise. In 2006, his vocals were featured on
the soundtrack of
Mel Gibson's
Apocalypto. In 2008, he sang the song "
Teri Ore" for the movie
Singh Is Kinng alongside
Shreya Ghoshal.
Television He judged the show
Chhote Ustaad alongside
Sonu Nigam. He was also one of the judges on the singing reality show
Junoon, which premiered on
NDTV Imagine in 2008.
Nobel Peace Prize Concert Rahat became the first Pakistani to perform at any Nobel Prize concert, when he was invited to the concert at
2014 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. He performed
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's most memorable qawwali "Tumhe Dillagi" and "Mast Qalandar", and he also sang "Aao Parhao" there.
Musical shows Coke Studio Rahat has appeared in five editions of the Pakistani musical show
Coke Studio. He first appeared in season 1, where he collaborated with singer
Ali Azmat for the track "
Garaj Baras". He then collaborated with
Abida Parveen in season 7 for "
Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni". He collaborated with
Amjad Sabri for "
Aaj Rang Hai", which was the final performance of the latter, prior to his assassination on 22 June 2016. He appeared in
Coke Studio Pakistan (season 10) where he performed "
Sayonee" with Ali Noor and a solo number called Rangreza. == Personal life ==