Alka Yagnik (born 20 March 1966) is an Indian playback singer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema. One of the most prominent singers of 90s era of Bollywood, she has received several accolades including two National Film Awards, two Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer from a record of thirty-six nominations.
Yagnik is one of the most prolific female playback singers and artists, and has sung a large number of female solos in her Bollywood career. In her career spanning over four decades she has sung songs for more than thousand films and recorded over twenty thousand songs in different Indian languages.Twenty of her tracks feature in BBC’s list of top forty Bollywood soundtracks of all-time. She is ranked No.1 on the YouTube’s Music Charts & Insights list of top global artists as of January 2023. She has been on the chart for 331 weeks with 371 million views.
Yagnik has been recognized as the most streamed artist in the world by Guinness World Records with 15.3 Billion YouTube views in 2022. The record book further reported that, “Kolkata-born Yagnik, 56, has been the most popular artist on the platform for the past three years, with 17 billion streams in 2021 and 16.6 billion in 2020.”
Early life
Yagnik was born in Kolkata on 20 March ,1966 to a Gujarati family. Her father’s name is Dharmendra Shankar. Her mother Shubha was a singer of Indian classical music. In 1972 at age six, she started singing for Akashvani (All India Radio), Calcutta. At age 10, her mother brought her to Mumbai as a child singer. She was advised to wait until her voice matured, but her mother remained determined. On a subsequent visit, Yagnik got a letter of introduction to Raj Kapoor from his Kolkata distributor. Kapoor heard the girl and sent her with a letter to noted music director Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar. Impressed, Laxmikant gave her two alternatives – an immediate start as a dubbing artist or a later break as a singer; Shubha chose the latter for her daughter. Yagnik mentioned that she was a bright student but didn’t like studies.
Filmography
| Year | Name | Notes | Channel |
| 1992 | Sapne Sajan Ke | Yagnik also appeared in film Sapne Sajan Ke in a song ‘Yeh Dua Hai Meri’ with co-singer Kumar Sanu. | — |
| 2006 | Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs | She made her first television debut with the show. | Zee TV |
| 2014 | Comedy Nights with Kapil | On 25 May 2014 she appeared as a special guest along with Kumar Sanu for the popular TV show Comedy Nights with Kapil. | Colors TV |
| Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs | She had done Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs as a judge in first Season and fifth Season as a Maha Guru (also in previous 2 seasons). | Zee TV | |
| 2016 | Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain! | In November 2016, she appeared in a Hindi comedy serial Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain! with Kumar Sanu in a special one hour episode. | &TV |
| 2017 | Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai | Yagnik also appeared as a guest in Hindi serial ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai’ | STAR Plus |
| Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs | She came with her co-singer Udit Narayan and sung many duets songs of 90s era. | Zee TV | |
| 2018 | Rising Star | She appears as a guest and gave a special tribute to late actress Sri Devi | Colors |
| Indian Idol | She appeared in 10th season of Indian Idol with co-singer Kumar Sanu. | Sony Entertainment Television | |
| 2019 | The Kapil Sharma Show | She appeared in The Kapil Sharma Show with other two judges for the promotion of her show ‘Superstar Singer’. | |
| Superstar Singer | In 2019, she appeared in Superstar Singer as a Judge in Sony TV. | ||
| 2020 | Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs | Besides Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu appeared as judges after 30 years. | Zee TV |
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