Lata Mangeshkar, Nightingale of India

Fondly known as the Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar has recorded songs in over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six Indian languages and foreign languages, though primarily in Marathi, Urdu, Hindi and Bengali. She won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989. In 2001, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. She is only the second vocalist, after M. S. Subbulakshmi, to receive this honour. France conferred on her its highest civilian award, the Officer of the Legion of Honour, in 2007. She has won three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and many more. In 1974, she became the first Indian to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, London.