He recorded as many as 7,000 songs throughout his career, spanning several languages such as Konkani, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Odia, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Magahi, Maithili, etc.

[10] Mohammed Rafi was the second eldest of six brothers born to Allah Rakhi and Haji Ali Mohammad in a Punjabi Jat Muslim family.

[11] The family originally belonged to Kotla Sultan Singh, a village near present-day Majitha in Amritsar district of Punjab, India.

[12] Rafi, whose nickname was Pheeko, began singing by imitating the chants of a fakir who roamed the streets of his native village Kotla Sultan Singh.

[13] Rafi learnt classical music from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo and Firoze Nizami.

Poet Tanvir Naqvi introduced him to film producers including Abdur Rashid Kardar, Mehboob Khan and actor-director Nazeer.

Rafi's first song with Naushad was "Hindustan Ke Hum Hain" with Shyam Kumar, Alauddin and others, from A. R. Kardar's Pehle Aap (1944).

Around the same time, Rafi recorded another song for the 1945 film Gaon Ki Gori, "Aji Dil Ho Kaaboo Mein".

Rafi sang "Tera Khilona Toota Balak" from Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946) and a duet with Noor Jehan in the 1947 film Jugnu, "Yahan Badla Wafa Ka".

He sang with Durrani in some of the songs such as "Humko Hanste Dekh Zamana Jalta Hai" and "Khabar Kisi Ko Nahiin, Woh Kidhar Dekhte" (Beqasoor, 1950).

[16] Songs from Baiju Bawra (1952) like "O duniya ke rakhwale" and "Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj" furthered Rafi's credentials.

Chaahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe" was sung by Rafi, matched by a fast-paced orchestra and composition by Shankar Jaikishan.

S-J had Rafi give playback for Kishore Kumar in the film Sharaarat ("Ajab Hai Daastaan Teri Ye Zindagi").

He received the National Award for the song "Baabul Ki Duaen Leti Jaa" from the film Neel Kamal (1968), also composed by Ravi.

Rafi and L-P won the Filmfare Award for the song "Chaahoonga Mein Tujhe Saanjh Suvere" from Dosti (1964).

[24] Once, when composer Nisar Bazmi, who once worked with Laxmikant-Pyarelal before he had migrated to Pakistan, didn't have enough money to pay him, Rafi charged a fee of one rupee and sang for him.

[29] Kalyani-Anandji and Rafi went on to work together for the music of the Shashi Kapoor-starrer Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968), which featured songs like "Bekhudi Mein Sanam" and "Chale The Saath Milke".

Many for whom he sang for free while making their compositions immortal; he selflessly believed in financially assisting producers and helping small-time projects who could not afford much.

Recognizing Rafi's position as the leading male playback singer, she wanted him to back her in demanding a half-share from the 5% song royalty that the film's producer conceded to select composers.

Rafi refused to side with her, stating that his claim on the film producer's money ended with his being paid his agreed fee for the song.

Rafi argued that the producer takes financial risk and the composer creates the song, so the singer does not have any claim over the royalty money.

In 1974 he won the Film World magazine Best Singer Award for the song "Teri Galiyon Mein Na Rakhenge Kadam Aaj Ke Baad" (Hawas, 1974) composed by Usha Khanna.

[40][41] Rafi went on to sing many more songs for Rishi Kapoor in the subsequent hit films, including Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977) and Amar Akbar Anthony (1977).

[43] Some of these include Pratiggya (1975), Bairaag (1976), Amaanat (1977), Dharam Veer (1977), Apnapan (1977), Ganga Ki Saugand (1978), Suhaag (1979), Sargam (1979), Qurbani (1980), Dostana (1980), Karz (1980), The Burning Train (1980), Abdullah (1980), Shaan (1980), Aasha (1980), Aap To Aise Na The (1980), Naseeb (1981) and Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai (1981).

[citation needed] During his last years, Rafi was involved in a controversy over Lata Mangeshkar's entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.

[45] After receiving a reply from Guinness, in a letter dated 20 November 1979, he wrote, "I am disappointed that my request for a reassessment vis-a-vis Ms Mangeshkar's reported world record has gone unheeded.

Fans of Mohammed Rafi, who visit his tomb twice a year to mark his birth and death anniversaries, use the coconut tree that is nearest to his grave as a marker.

[55] Rafi's style of singing influenced singers like Kavita Krishnamurti, Mahendra Kapoor, Mohammed Aziz, Shabbir Kumar, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam,[56] and S. P.

On 22 September 2007, a shrine to Rafi designed by artist Tasawar Bashir was unveiled on Fazeley Street, Birmingham, UK.

Bollywood playback singer Sonu Nigam provided the vocals for this project and toured with the CBSO in July 2008 at venues including the English National Opera in London, Manchester's Apollo Theatre, and Symphony Hall, Birmingham.