Introduction
Alka Yagnik was born on March 20, 1966, Celebrated Indian playback singer and gained notoriety in 1990s Hindi film. Out of 36 nominations, she has won a record seven Filmfare Awards and two National Film Awards. Yagnik has sung over 21,000 songs for over 1,000 films in over 25 languages during the course of a career spanning more than 40 years. With 371 million views as of January 2023, she is ranked #1 on YouTube's Music Charts. Guinness World Records named her the most-streamed artist worldwide in 2022 with 15.3 billion views.
Early life
On March 20, 1966, Alka Yagnik was born in Kolkata, India, into a Gujarati family. Her mother Shubha was a classical music vocalist, and her father is Dharmendra Shankar. At the age of six, Yagnik started singing for All India Radio. To pursue a singing career, her mother took her to Mumbai when she was ten years old. Her mother persevered even after she was first told to wait till her voice developed. Yagnik met Raj Kapoor later on in the visit, and he introduced her to Laxmikant, the music director. Impressed, Laxmikant gave her the option of making her dubbing debut right away or holding off to make her singing debut; her mother opted for the latter. Yagnik claimed to be a gifted student who didn't love to study.
Career
At the age of six, classically trained singer Alka Yagnik started performing Bhajans for All India Radio. “Payal Ki Jhankaar” (1980) was her cinematic debut, and “Ek Do Teen” from “Tezaab” (1988) catapulted her to fame and her first of seven Filmfare Awards. Yagnik has toured all over the world, sung in over 25 languages, and made solo albums like “Tum Yaad Aaye” (1997). Notable for hits like “Choli Ke Peeche” and “Chamma Chamma,” she has also contributed to social causes like child health awareness and girl empowerment. She is one of Bollywood's most prolific vocalists, having sang 2,486 Hindi songs in 1,114 films. She also holds the record for the most Filmfare Awards won by a female playback singer.
Artistry
Alka Yagnik also learned from Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji. She regards her mother as her first mentor. She names Lata Mangeshkar as her inspiration and feels that her voice is most suited for love melodies. Yagnik is a talented singer who has sang over 9,000 songs in over 300 movies, specializing in romantic, melancholic, and upbeat genres. Her most famous trio of 90s playback singing was with Kumar Sanu, Sonu Nigam, and Udit Narayan. She sang duets with Sanu most of the time.
In the media
People refer to Alka Yagnik as “the queen of playback singing.” She rose to the top of the Spotify charts for Indian artist-moms on Mother's Day, 2019. Her “magical voice” was complimented by Hindustan Times, while the Times of India described her as a “honey-voiced singer.” She was named one of the top 90s playback vocalists by Mid-Day. Leading contemporary vocalist Sunidhi Chauhan has declared that she could never hope to achieve the success of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, and Alka Yagnik.
Personal life
In 1989, Alka Yagnik wed Neeraj Kapoor, a businessman from Shillong. Syesha is their daughter's name.