Begum Akhtar was born Akhtari Bai Faizabadi. She belonged to an aristocratic family of Lucknow that had fallen on hard times. Later in life she claimed that her father Asghar Hussein had been a judge, and that he had objected strongly to her taking up singing. However, the truth was her mother, Mushtari Begum, sang for a living, and was technically a tawaif. Mushtari Begum soon realised her daughter had the talent to reach the top. Begum Akhtar sang with her mother on stage when she was thirteen, and gave her first public performance at fifteen, where the head of HMV records became an instant fan and persuaded her to cut a record. Her face and eyes were very expressive, and she knew perfectly the bhao batana style of emotive singing.