Mohammed Rafi was the second oldest of six brothers born to Hajji Ali Mohammad. The family originally belonged to Kotla Sultan Singh, a village near present-day Amritsar in Punjab, India.[3] Rafi, whose nickname was Pheeko, began singing by imitating the chants of a fakir in the streets of his native village Kotla Sultan Singh where his family lived. Rafi's father moved to Lahore in 1935, where he ran a men's salon in Noor Mohalla in Bhatti Gate.[4] His elder brother, Mohammad Deen, had a friend, Abdul Hameed, (future brother-in-law), who recognised the talent in Rafi in Lahore and encouraged him to sing. Abdul Hameed later convinced the family elders to let Rafi move to Mumbai; he accompanied him in 1944.
Rafi learnt classical music from Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwan Lal Mattoo and Firoze Nizami.[5] His first public performance came at the age of 13, when he sang in Lahore featuring K. L. Saigal. In 1941, Rafi, under Shyam Sundar, made his debut in Lahore as a playback singer in the duet "Soniye Nee, Heeriye Nee" with Zeenat Begum in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch (released in 1944).[6] In that same year, Rafi was invited by All India Radio Lahore station to sing for them.[7]
He made his Hindi film debut in Gaon Ki Gori in 1945
