Famous Indian Playback Singers

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam was an Indian playback singer, music director, actor, television presenter, film producer, and voice-over artist. Widely regarded as one of the most gifted singers of his generation, Balasubrahmanyam received six National Film Awards in an illustrious singing career that spanned more than five decades. He was posthumously honored with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award.

One of the most respected and best-known playback singers in India, Lata Mangeshkar is popularly known as the Nightingale of India. Such has had a long career of more than 60 years and have been honoured with India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna..

A man of many talents, Kishore Kumar was an Indian actor, filmmaker, writer, music director, lyricist, and playback singer. One of the most popular Indian singers of his generation, Kishore Kumar sang in different genres and multiple Indian languages. In 1997, the Kishore Kumar Award was initiated for his contributions to Hindi cinema. Despite marrying four times, he remained a loner.

Known as Hindi cinema’s “Tragedy Queen,” Meena Kumari is remembered for her stellar performances in films such as Pakeezah and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. The four-time Filmfare-winning actor sank into alcoholism after her separation from her abusive husband, director Kamal Amrohi, and died of liver cirrhosis.

Born in Chennai, to a Carnatic music teacher mother, Sid Sriram later moved to the US with his family. The talented singer-songwriter is a Berklee College of Music alumnus and is known for his skills mixing pop/soul and Indian classical elements. His Indian playback credits include Adiye from the film Kadal.

Yuvan Shankar Raja is a music composer and singer-songwriter. He is credited with introducing hip-hop to the Tamil music industry and became one of the most sought-after Tamil composers in 2000s. In 2006, he won the Cyprus International Film Festival Award, becoming the first Indian composer to win the award. He has also won other awards like Filmfare Awards South.

Known for blending Indian classical music with contemporary undertones, Indian music director, composer, and record producer, Pritam Chakraborty is also a well-known singer and instrumentalist.  Beginning his career with ad jingles, he later partnered with Jeet Ganguly to compose music for Hindi films before going solo. He has won numerous awards for his work, concurrently helping budding musicians through his organization JAM8.

Known as the Queen of Indipop and India's Madonna, Alisha Chinai rocked the 1990s with her chartbusting hit Made in India. She also made headlines when she accused music director Anu Malik of sexual harassment. Kaate Nahin Katthe from the film Mr. India was one of her other big hits.

Usha Mangeshkar belongs to the iconic Mangeshkar musical family of India and is the second-youngest child of Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar. She, and her famous siblings, Lata and Asha, once rocked the Hindi playback scene. Her song Mai Toh Aarti from Jai Santoshi Maa earned her a Filmfare nomination.

Neha Bhasin first gained the spotlight when she became one of the five winners of the Channel V show Popstars, thus becoming part of India’s first all-girl pop band, Viva. She is also an avid dancer and is known for her Bollywood tracks such as Kuch Khaas Hai from Fashion.