Rasoolan Hussain was born in 1902 at Kachhwa Baazar, Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, in a poor family, though she inherited the musical legacy of her mother Adalat, and displayed her grasp over classical Ragas at an early age.

[2] Her first performance was held in Dhananjaygarh court, after its success she started getting invitations from local Rajas of the time, thus she went on to dominated the Hindustani classical music genre for next five decades, based in Varanasi and became the doyenne of Benaras gharana.

In 1948, she stopped performing mujra and moved out of her kotha, started living in a bylane of Varanasi (Banaras) and married a local Banarasi sari dealer.

[4] A contemporary of Siddheswari Devi (1908–1976) also from the same gharana, besides, concerts and mehfils, she often sang on Lucknow and Allahabad stations of All India Radio[2] and Doordarshan till 1972, and her last public singing was held in Kashmir.

[8] Rasoolan Bai and the tawaif tradition of women musicians was featured in the film The Other Song (2009) by Saba Dewan, also featuring her more famous song, Lagat karejwa ma chot, phool gendwa na maar, a 1935 Gramophone recording[9][10] Even famous shehnai player Bismillah khan said" I got inspiration for music from two sisters 'Rasoolanbai' and Batoolan bai(her sister) when I was 14."