Singer Sonu Nigam pays a tribute to legendary singer Mohammad Rafi celebrating his Centenary celebrations this year. Rafi Saheb gave voice to many actors of the superstars of yester years including Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Dharmendra and many other leading actors. He passed away at the age of 55 in 1980 due to a heart attack.

The legendary singer was a versatile singer who has been an inspiration to many singers and the closest to him today is non other than Sonu Nigam, who calls him his musical father.

From an early age Sonu Nigam was influenced and calls him an Inspiratiin. His parents Agam and Shobha Nigam encouraged him to listen and emulate Rafi Saheb who covered the spectrum of every genre and emotion through his effortlessly versatile voice. 

Sonu tells, 'Rafi Sabeb has helped me be what I’m today and I still keep learning from him. He is my musical father. Rafi sahab was the prime reference point. It was like ‘Be like him, he can sing a qawwali, a bhajan, a sad song, a high-pitch song, a semi-classical. So that’s what a singer should be like. He was my inspiration".