Jagjit Singh

Jagjit Singh is ‘Ghazal King’ in Indian music. His fantastic rendition, bass voice, and perfect diction made him popular in every home. This singer ushered a new era of Ghazal singing in the country. His songs such as ‘Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti’(film Aaj) and ‘Tumko Dekha Toh Yeh Khayal Aaya’ (film Saath Saath), ‘Hoshwaalon Ko Khabar Kya’ (film Sarfarosh) benefitted numerous films too and brought melody back to films. His one song’ Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe in Ho’ is an immortal song. As a singer, he was influenced by Hindi film songs since his childhood.

He used to hear various songs in radio and sang them occasionally. His idol was singer Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi is a renowned Indian playback singer >> Read More... . After his higher studies in Jalandhar, he had landed up in Bombay to get a break in films. In those days, getting a break into playback singing was not an easy task. Hence, he used to sing at many functions and weddings thrown by rich and famous people in Mumbai. It was that time he met Chitra, who was married then to Deboo Dutta. It is Deboo Dutta who noticed Jagjit Singh and gave him a break. As fate followed, Deboo and Chitra got divorced, and Jagjit and Chitra came closer to each other.

Later they got married in a simple ceremony and got busy into recording sessions. They were a highly successful husband-wife performer too. Together they have recorded popular albums such as ‘A Sound Affair’, ’Ecstasies’, The Unforgettable and ‘Passion’. Together, they recorded songs for more than three dozen Hindi films. Later the singer sang with legendary Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar, the veteran playback singer, had >> Read More... for his second Ghazal album’ ‘Sajda.' His song ‘Hontho Se Chhoo Lo Tum" from film ‘Prem Granth’ (1981) was a chartbuster and even now the song is played in every wedding ceremonies. Next year, the singer’s career saw another interesting turn with the release of Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Arth.'

In this film, Jagjit has sung all the songs that became popular. This film proved that he is easily the best ghazal singer in the country. He came to films at a time when songs have lost melody. He was easily accessible to common man as he used to sing in stages. He enlightened the viewers in various languages such as Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Sindhi or Nepali even. He has given his soulful voice for two TV serials ’ Mirza Ghalib Mirza Ghalib was a biographical television serial >> Read More... ’ and Kahkashan’. This singer was born in Rajasthan on February 8, 1941. He was trained in Hindustani classical music.

He mastered Khyaal, Thumri or Dhrupad genres. He also sang Sanskrit Bhajans, Urdu Ghazals, Punjabi Chabad's that communicated the power and beauty of his voice.In the year 2003, he was honored with India's most prestigious award, the Padma Bhushan. His voice was popular with international audiences too in countries like Pakistan, Australia, and the USA. This golden voice became total silence when he passed away for a brain hemorrhage in Mumbai, on October 11, 2011.