NEW DELHI – Lata Mangeshkar, a legendary Indian singer with an epic, groundbreaking track and a voice recognized by billions in South Asia, has passed away. She is 92 years old.
The iconic singer passed away Sunday morning from multiple organ failure at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai, her doctor, Dr Pratit Samdani, told reporters. She was hospitalized on January 11 after contracting COVID-19. She was taken off the ventilator after her condition improved in late January but her health deteriorated on Saturday and was on life support again.
India has declared two days of national mourning and said Mangeshkar will be given a state funeral before being cremated in Mumbai on Sunday evening. The country’s flags will fly at a height of half a foot.
Messages of condolences were sent shortly after her death was announced.
“I am suffering beyond words”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet. “She left a void in our people that could not be filled. Generations to come will remember her as a solid Indian cultural icon, whose melodious voice was capable of enchanting. incomparable human heart.”
For almost eight decades, Mangeshkar has been a major presence as a playback singer, singing songs that were later lip-synced by actors in lavish Indian Bollywood musicals. She is also revered as the “Queen of Melodies” and “The Nightingale of India.”
Mangeshkar’s songs, always full of emotion, are often sad and are mainly about unrequited love, but others are concerned with national pride.
Born in Maharashtra on September 28, 1929, Mangeshkar first sang at religious gatherings with her father, who was also a trained singer. After moving to Mumbai, the capital of India’s film industry, she became a hugely charismatic star, captivating audiences with her smooth yet edgy voice and timeless Hindi soundtrack. the next many decades.
Few musicians define versatility like Mangeshkar, who released her debut song in 1942 for a Bollywood movie when she was just 13 years old. Soon, she became an icon of Hindi singing, letting her listen to over 5,000 songs in over a thousand Bollywood and regional languages. movie. She sang for Bollywood’s first female superstars like Madhubala and Meena Kumari and later went on to voice modern divas like Priyanka Chopra.
Mangeshkar is still in her 20s as she has been established as one of the best playback singers in India. But her defining moment came in the historical drama “Mughal-e-Azam”, a romantic tragedy that was released in 1960. The “Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya” soundtrack? (Why fear if you’re in love?) Considered one of the most memorable of Bollywood movies, one of those films that over the decades has become the undisputed epitome of about the often rebellious nature of love.
Throughout his career, Mangeshkar has worked with nearly all of India’s legendary musical directors, including Madan Mohan, Naushad, SD Burman, RD Burman, duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal and AR Rahman, selling tens of millions of discs. She has also won dozens of singing awards, earning her an almost holy status in the Bollywood music industry.
“I can’t believe I’ve been tolerated by music lovers for the past 75 years!” she said last year in an interview with the news website Rediff.
Mangeshkar’s popularity has extended far beyond India. She is celebrated not only in the neighboring countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh but also in several Western countries.
In 2001, she was awarded “Bharat Ratna,” India’s highest civilian honor. The French government presented her with its highest civilian award, the “Officier de la Legion d’Honneur,” in 2007.
In December, Mangeshkar paid tribute to her eight decades of radio debut.
She wrote on Twitter in Hindi: “On December 16, 1941, I sang two songs for the first time in a radio studio after seeking my parents’ blessing. It’s been 80 years today. In these 80 years, I have received so much love and blessings from everyone. I believe that I will always receive your love and blessings.”
Mangeshkar never married. She is survived by four siblings, all of whom are successful singers and musicians.
