ISLAMABAD- Thirty first death anniversary of legendary Pakistani playback singer Ahmed Rushdi passed unnoticed throughout the country today.

Ahmed Rushdi recorded the highest number of film songs in the history of Pakistani cinema in Urdu, English, Punjabi, Bengali, Sindhi and Gujarati languages and found unprecedented success as a playback artist from the mid-1950s to early 1980s. He recorded approximately 5000 songs for 583 released films.

Considered as the first pop star from South Asia, his song 'Ko-Ko-Korina' filmed on Waheed Murad is one of the most well known tunes in Pakistan's history. Rushdi died of a heart attack at the age of 48 on April 11, 1983. He was considered as a key contributor to the golden age of Pakistani film music. Twenty years after his death, then president Pervez Musharraf awarded him the Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2003.