Sanam Marvi

Sanam Marvi's childhood was full of hardships and poverty.[3] Marvi started getting music training at the age of 7. She is from a Sindhi Family. Her father, Faqeer Khan Muhammad was also a Sindhi folk musician/ harmonium player. He gave Her initial classical music training, for 2 years, later she learnt classical singing and raags from Ustad Fateh Ali Khan from Sindh in the Gwalior gharana tradition. She says that she has also learned a lot from folk singer Abida Parveen.[1][2] She performed in Rafi Peer Theatre in 2004 and 2005.

Sanam Marvi debuted, in 2009, at ‘Virsa Heritage’, a music program on Pakistan Television Corporation channel hosted by Yousuf Salahuddin. She affectionately calls him 'like a baba to her' (a father figure to her) for giving her a big break in the Pakistani entertainment industry. Later she performed at Coke Studio, Pakistan, a Pakistani television series featuring live music performances.[1]

Marvi performs sufi concerts around the world. She is considered among the 3 of the finest performers in the Sufi, ghazal and folk genres. The other 2 being Abida Parveen and Tina Sani.[4] < She made her debut in a solo performance on the Indian soil at 2010's Jahan-e-Khusrau, the Sufi music festival arranged by the famous film producer Muzaffar Ali of 1981 film Umrao Jaan fame.[2] In February 2011, she performed with Indian playback singer Rekha Bhardwaj at Times of India's Aman ki Asha event at Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, India.[5]

Marvi made her live concert singing debut in 2012 with concerts held at London, Paris, New York, singing alongside Hadiqa Kiyani and Ali Zafar.[1]

She sang the OST for A-Plus Entertainment's Piya Bedardi and Urdu1's Bachay Baraye Farokht.

Sanam Marvi feels that lyrics written by the Sufi poets have a universal and timeless appeal among the public and that people find comfort in those words.[1]

Recently, she carried on the legacy of folk genre and sang 'Hairaan Hua' from the platform of Coke Studio.[6]

Sanam Marvi is married to Hamid Ali Khan. They have three children.[1] Her first husband, Aftab Ahmed Pharero, also known as Aftab Ahmed Kalhoro, was murdered in Karachi in 2009.[7] They had married in 2006 but had been estranged for two years prior to his death. Marvi was Aftab's second wife.[7]

• Latif Award (2011)
• Best Singer – Sufism University[8]
• Best Singer Light Music – Virsa at 17th PTV National Awards held in 2012
• Won UNESCO Award at 9th International Music Festival (Festival Sharq Taronalari, Samarqand 2013). She is the second artist after Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to win this award.
• Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Medal of Distinction) Award by the President of Pakistan in 2020[9]