Their family came from a musical background, and claimed direct descent from Mian Tansen, who had played at the court of the 16th-century Mughal emperor Akbar.

Later, with the help of his father, Maqbool Ahmed Sabri formed a qawwali group at the age of eleven and named it Bacha Qawwal Party.

The group's first public performance was in 1956 at an Urs ceremony held at the home of Jameel Amrohi, where he sang "Do Alam Baka Kul Giraftar Daari" in the presence of many legendary qawwals of that time.

During their first ever tour of America in 1975, their promoter Beate Gordon of Asia Society suggested that this name was too long so they changed it as Sabri Brothers.

[1] Their first recording, released in 1958 under the EMI Pakistan label, was the Urdu qawwali, "Mera Koi Nahin Hai Teray Siwa.

"[3] Their blockbuster hits included "Bhar Do Jholi Meri Ya Muhammad", "Tajdar-e-Haram", "O Sharabi Chord De Peena", "Khwaja Ki Deewani", and "Sar E La Makan Se Talab Hui."

"[3] Maqbool Ahmed Sabri was considered a master of improvisational wordplay, often making references in Urdu and Punjabi, as well as Persian or Arabic, to historical events or to traditional poetry.

[3] He also sang ghazal which included "Tere Ghungroo Toot Gaye", "Aa Jan-e-Wafa", "Kabhi Tanha Beith Ke", "Gul Badan Gul Pairhan", "Jab Kabhi Aankh Milate Hain", "Din Ek Sitam", "Mere Mizaj Ki Awargi" and "Aaina Tordh Diya."

[7] They played the Womad festival in the UK in 1989 – one of a series of appearances there – and released the album Ya Habib (O Beloved) on Peter Gabriel's Real World Records label the following year.

In 1996, after the death of his brother Ghulam, Sabri performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music – Next Wave Festival, as part of a double-billing with alternate-rockers Cornershop., and the Voices Of God event in 1999 held at Marrakesh.