Many of his contemporaries compared his music with that of classically trained singers, although Rushdi never had any influences from any classical singer. He is famously known as "Magician of voice" and his popularity also turned traditional classical singers against him but did not affect his fame and his death is termed as irreparable loss to the industry. Actor "Waheed Murad" declared Rushdi's song, "Bhooli hui hoon daastan", his favorite song. Music directors like M.Ashraf and Nisar Bazmi also hold centaury partnerships with Ahmed Rushdi and they have composed hundreds of songs for him. According to complete songography, M.Ashraf composed 734 songs in 211 movies for Rushdi but available figures indicate a composition of 132 songs in 100 movies for him. The first movie of this pair was "Speran" in 1961 and the last was "Hero" in 1983. Ahmed Rushdi influenced many singers in music industry.