Top 10 Bollywood male playback singers of All time
Top 10 Bollywood playback singers
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Mohammed Rafi, whose voice brought to life hundreds of melodies, was born in a village Kotla Sultan Singh near Amritsar long before India attained its independence. But music training beckoned him to Lahore where he cut his musical teeth under the hawk-like eye of Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan. He made his singing debut in the Punjabi film Gul baloch by rendering a duet with Zeenat Begum, 'Soniye Ni Heeriye Ni' composed by Shyamsunder.
Wadia Movietone was a prominent film company and it was Homi Wadia who saw the talent in Mohammed Rafi and insisted that he sing for his forthcoming film Sharbati Ankhen under the Music directorship of Feroz Nizami. The voice of Mohammed Rafi encompassed a tremendous range, which is unparalleled. The peculiar trait that separates a playback singer from a classical vocalist is not the range or ability as a singer but the voice quality. With Mohammed Rafi it was the ultimate combination that helped him reign supreme in the field of playback singing. His voice quality combined with his unsurpassed range made him stand apart from his contemporaries.
His voice suited any genre of music be it a moving ghazal like Aap Ke Pehloo Main Aakar Ro Diye, a plaintive bhajan like O Duniya Ke Rakhawale, or a wild and whacky Shanker-Jaikishan composition like Chahe Koi Mujhe Jungle Kahe. Mohammed Rafi added his delectable nuances to the melody and made it immortal. His voice had this unique feature of screen adaptability and when it merged with his intelligence as a singer it helped him to tailor his voice across an array of faces that remain entrenched in our memory books. Comedian Johnny Walker had a voice that was queerly rounded. Mohammed Rafi's take on him was phenomenal in songs like Sar Jo Tera Chakraye under S D Burman in Pyasa and Aye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yaha from CID. Mohammed Rafi managed to sound exactly like Johnny Walker would if he sang the song himself. Rafi summoned Johnny Walker a day or two prior to the song picturization and then contributed his bit to add to the character Johnny Walker played on screen.
Honestly speaking it would not be in any way an overstatement to say that heroes like Biswajit (Pukarta chala hoon main), Bharat Bhushan (Zindagi Bhar Nahin Bhoolegi Woh Barsaat Ki Raat), Joy Mukherjee (Bade Miyan Deewane) are remembered more for the songs that were picturised on them with Rafi lending his golden voice to their average acting abilities.
Mohammed Rafi was known for his altruistic behavior, which was exhibited on several occasions. He has been known to charge just a token amount as his fees for singing songs of Music Directors who could not afford his regular charges. Many a times Mohammed Rafi has sung songs without charging a single penny to the Music Directors. A case in point is the film Aap ke Deewane with which actor Rakesh Roshan began his phase as a Producer-Director. Rafi sang the title song of the film but did not charge any money because he felt that he liked the song a lot and after all it was only a line, which he had to render. Very few singers were known to be so good at heart. This innate goodness in him came to the fore when he sang most of his songs.
In his glorious career Mohammed Rafi won the coveted Filmfare Award of best playback singer no less than six times. He was also decorated with the Padmashri by the Government of India. With the advent of Kishore Kumar as a major singing sensation Rafi sahab's career received a slight jolt in the late 60s and the early 70s but he bounced back with verve in films like Sargam, Karz, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin, Poonam and his last song under the baton of Laxmikant-Pyarelal for the film Aas Paas. He succumbed to the dreaded heart-attack on the 31st of July 1980 -ironically the man was a teetotaler and a non- smoker. He was in his mid fifties.
His funeral procession was one of the largest that the city of Mumbai has ever witnessed. The world of Music lost one of its brightest luminaries on 31st July 1980 but his melodious voice still stops music lovers in their tracks. Notable Films: Aar Paar, Baiju Bawra, Barsat Ki Raat, Dosti, Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, Hum Dono, Pyasa, Shaheed, Teesri Manzil- Music Artist
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Abhas Kumar Ganguly was born in Khandwa, now in Madhya Pradesh. His dad's name was Kunjilal, a lawyer by profession, and his mom's name was Gouri Devi, who came from a wealthy family.
Kishore was the youngest in the Ganguly family, preceded by Ashok Kumar, Sati, & Anoop Kumar (I). Sati was married to Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was the brother of film-maker Subodh Mukherji, and Bollywood actors Joy Mukherjee & Deb Mukherjee. Sati's son, Shomu Mukherjee, went on to marry Tanuja Samarth, and who subsequently gave birth to Kajol and Tanishaa Mukerji. Tanuja is the sister of Nutan, who, in turn, is the mother of actor Mohnish Behl. Tanuja and Nutan are the daughters of the famed Shobhna Samarth. Sati was also aunt-by-marriage to Ram Mukherjee, who would subsequently marry and give birth to Raj Mukherjee and Bollywood actress, Rani Mukerji. Ashok's daughter is noted Bollywood actress, Preeti Ganguli, who is married to comedian and character actor, Deven Verma. Ashok's grand-daughter is actress, Anuradha Patel.
While Ashok went on to become a successful actor, Abhas, who was renamed Kishore, shunned acting, and preferred singing and mimicking K.L. Saigal. His brother, Anoop, while struggling to make a name himself, noticed this, and encouraged Kishore to sing in his own voice.
When Sachin Dev Burman happened to visit Ashok, he heard Kishore singing, and immediately signed him to sing for Bollywood movies. After Sachin's passing away, his son, Rahul Dev Burman took over and openly favored Kishore over other male singers.
He always wanted to be a singer, but acting was thrust upon him, and he did his best to live up to it. A Leo, Kishore was also known for his mad-cap comedy movies, and for his eccentricity as he used to 'talk' to his trees in his home, and had even put up a sign 'Mental Hospital' right outside his residence in Khandwa. He was also parsimonious, so much so that he was in arrears to the Indian Income Tax authorities, yet never missed a chance to make fun of them (Aur Peechey Pad Gaya Income Taxum, Jai Govindam Jai Gopalam).
When he refused to endorse former Indian Prime Minister's 20 point Program during the 1975-1977 Emergency, he was banned from the Government-controlled media namely All India Radio and Vividh Bharati. Even duets with his voice were censored. He was not the only one in Bollywood, as others like I.S. Johar, Dev Anand, Shatrughan Sinha openly condemned Mrs. Gandhi's regime. After the emergency, her political party (Congress) was overwhelmingly ousted by the electorate in favor of the Janata Party.
Kishore made a record by being the only singer to have sung in more than 90 films for a single hero which was for Rajesh Khanna. Kishore sang in 91 films for Rajesh Khanna.His closest friends were Rajesh Khanna, R.D.Burman, S.D.Burman, Mohammad Rafi.He refused to lend his voice to Amitabh Bachchan in period 1982-1987 many times, when the latter refused to do a guest appearance in a Kishore-produced film and this affected Bachchan's career as many of his films flopped post 1983.
His marriages to some of the most popular and attractive Bollywood actresses (Madhubala, Yogeeta Bali,Leena Chandavarkar) not only raised eyebrows, but added to his popularity.Fact was each of these women with exception of Yogita Bali fell in love with Kishore Kumar. Madhubala loved him immensely but had health issues so died. Then in 1976 Yogita claimed to love him and married Kishore, but then Kishore realized she had married him for his money so divorced her. Leena was a widower but Kishore fell in love with her and proposed her and they were happily married till his death.
He introduced his son, Amit Kumar, (sired from his first wife Ruma Ghosh aka Ruma Guha Thakurta) to sing, often along with him, and then amazed his fans by marrying widowed Leena Chandavarkar, who was just two years older than Amit.
He sang 245 songs picturised on Rajesh Khanna across 92 films, which is an unbeaten record for singer-actor combination. Kishore sang 245 songs for Rajesh Khanna, 202 for Jeetendra, 119 for Dev Anand and 131 for Amitabh.
He had recorded the duets "Kaho Kahan Chale" for the film Bulundi, "Pyar Ka Dard Hai" from Dard and "Tum Jo Chale Gaye" from Aas Paas, a few days before his heart attack in 1981. He suffered his first heart attack on 24th January 1981 in Kolkata in the noon hours and within a gap of another four hours, suffered his second heart attack. The first solo song sung by him, after recovery from his two attacks was "Mere Sang Sang Aya" from Rajput (1982) and the duet with Asha - "Mausam Bheega Bheega" from Gehra Zakhm.
In the comedy, Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi (1974) a song 'Karne Chaley Thhey Shaadi Meri, Khud Ban Baithey Dulha', sung by Amit, hilariously chastised his dad for getting married, instead of searching for a bride for his son.
Through Leena he sired another son, Sumeet Kumar. Their marriage was intact until his unexpected passing on October 13, 1987, due to heart failure for the third time.
Kishore has not only been immortalized by his songs, but also by his talents as an Actor, Producer, Director, Script-Writer, & Lyricist. His movies continue to be popular even now on TV, as do his songs on both TV and radio.- Music Artist
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Udit Narayan Jha credited as Udit Narayan (born 1 December 1955)is an established Indian playback singer who works in Bollywood and whose songs have been featured mainly in Nepali and Bollywood movies.He has won three National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards. He is the only male singer in the history of the Filmfare Awards to have won over three decades (winning in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s).- Music Artist
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Kumar Sanu was born on October 20, 1957 in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Kumar Sanu has made Indian music known all over the world with the magic of his extraordinary voice. Which will be Remembered forever. In Indian music it is called the king of melody. He has song in different languages of India, to the tune of various renowned music directors. He is one of the best artists in the world of Indian music. As well as singing, he has also directed music for several shadow films. It also has its own film production house. He also holds various Indian Best Awards as an artist.- Music Artist
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Sonu Nigam is the best singer in the current generation. He was awarded the Padma Shri Award in 2023. He is the only singer who can understand the song instantly by any composer. He is the best stage performer, India has ever seen. He can sing songs with perfect notes along with dancing on the stage. He is also an idol for many famous singers. He is a unique singer who can sing any song whether it's sad, pop, Sufi, etc.- Music Artist
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S.P. Balasubrahmanyam was born on 4 June 1946 in Konetampet, Pallipattu, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh [now Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu], India. He was a music artist and actor, known for Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Enthiran (2010) and Andaz Apna Apna (1994). He was married to Savitri S.. He died on 25 September 2020 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.- Music Artist
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Abhijeet was born as Abhijeet Bhattacharya, in a middle-class Bengali family from Kanpur (UP). His parents were against his singing but Abhijeet went against his parent's wishes to become a singer. In Kanpur his family members were all musical, and educated professionals. Money was never a contextual concern. In Kanpur education and culture was all his family courted, leisure was driving around the tree-lined lanes on bicycles. Confident and feted for his success, today the star-singer lives in a Bollywood dream bungalow (named Sunny vistas) of white façade and red-tiled roof.
He was the apple of the community eye for his singing talents and Pampered and cosseted by a fond family, Abhijeet was the youngest of four brothers. He came to Mumbai in 1981 to study Chartered Accountancy. But owing to his fascination for singing and music he decided to pursue a career in playback singing. Despite being gifted with a melodious voice, he had to struggle for a very long time.
During his struggle period due to economic constraints Abhijeet had to reside in tiny rooms and stingy guesthouses. He returned to Kanpur but each time was drawn to the magnetism of Mumbai with a dream to be fulfilled. He was packing his bags after a long struggle in Bombay when he received a call from R.D. Burman to sing for Dev Anands son's debut film. Abhijeet also got to sing with Kishore Kumar, his idol, in the same film. It all happened to Abhijeet as he received a new lease of life when music director Ravindra Jain, gave him an offer to live with him. It was during his stay with Ravindra that Abhijeet's proximity to Bollywood grew in a phased and gradual manner. He began visiting R.D. Burman's residence and started getting frequent opportunities to sing for stage shows. Abhijeet got opportunities to sing as a chorus singer for music directors Rajesh Roshan and Jagjit Singh.
It was R.D. Burman who acted like a mentor to Abhijeet and gave him his first break as a playback singer in Dev Anand's Anand Aur Anand. The song was 'Waadon ki shaam aayi, yaaron ke naam aayi'. But the film flopped and he was struggling to find work again. For quite a few years after that he resorted to singing cover versions of Kishore Kumar hits.
In the 1990s he got his due rewards when the songs of Baaghi of Anand-Milind, 'Ek chanchal shokh hasina', 'Chandni raat hai' and 'Har kasam se badi hai' were Superhits. Today Abhijeet is one of the top names when it comes to male playback singers. He has entrenched himself firmly in the music world, with several other hits like 'Ole Ole' in Yeh Dillagi, the title track of Main Khiladi Tu Anari, 'Zara sa Jhoom loo main' Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge 'Teri ankhen jhuki jhuki' Fareb, 'Shaher Ki ladki' Rakshak, 'Jhanjhriya' Krishna, 'Tan tana tan tan tara' Judwaa. Be it a Sunil Shetty, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, or Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan and now Hrithik Roshan, Abhijeet has sung for them all. He performed for many films like Baaghi, Sadak, Khiladi, Raja Babu, Yeh Dillagi, Yes Boss, Baadshah, Josh and Dhadkan and many more. After his success in playback singing he thought of singing pop. He launched two albums, Main Deewana Hoon and Tapori No. 1. But both albums did not click commercially. After these two pop albums, he launched Aashiqui, which was appreciated by audience. Recently he has launched a pop album, Tere Bina, whose songs and video are chartbusters.
He won the Filmfare Award and Screen Award for the best singer for his song 'Main Koi Aisa Geet Gaoon' in Yes Boss. He also won the MTV ASIA Award 2004. After that singing with most of the big banner movies and top music composers, the singer has once again hit the top charts.- Music Artist
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Shaan was born on 30 September 1972 in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India. He is a music artist and actor, known for Fanaa (2006), Om Shanti Om (2007) and 3 Idiots (2009). He is married to Radhika Jolly. They have two children.- Music Artist
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Sukhwinder Singh was born on 18 July 1971. He is a music artist and composer, known for Haider (2014), Dil Se.. (1998) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008).- Music Artist
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Arijit Singh Sir has made Indian music famous all over the world with the magic of his extraordinary voice. Which will be remembered forever. Salute sir. Born in a mooseball in the Indian state of West Bengal, he is still the best young and old in the world of Indian music. The path of his life inspires many people. That is why I feel proud as an Indian citizen.