Indian music icon Lata Mangeshkar passed away Sunday morning after battling with COVID-19. She was 92-year-old. She breathed her last on Sunday, February 6 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital where she was receiving treatment for COVID-19 since three weeks.
The Bharat Ratna awardee and three-time National Award winning iconic singer fondly called the ‘Queen of Melody’ Lata has sung more than 30,000 songs in Indian films and has lent her voice to songs in over 36 Indian and foreign languages in over 1000 movies.
The eldest of her five siblings Lata at the age of 14 began her career as an singer by singing ‘Ajeeb Dastaan Hai’. Her sister Asha Bhonsle is also an Indian iconic singer.
Born on September 28, 1929 into a family of performers, her father Dinanath Mangeshkar ran a theatre company and music folklore in Maharashtra as he discovered the genius in her daughter Lata, a true voice.
After the death of her father Lata Mangeshkar moved to Mumbai.
Composer Master Ghulam Haider gave Lata first break as a singer in Hindi films. In Bollywood her voice has been described as a ‘miracle of nature’s creativity’.
Lata Mangeshkar is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest playback singers. Thus the Guinness Book of Records has listed Lata Mangeshkar in 1974 as the most recorded artist in history between 1948-1974.
For Lata the work was worship who also sung many songs barefoot as a mark of respect. In 1974 Lata took off her shoes while performing her show at the Royal Albert Hall as a mark of respect for her revered art form.
Reports also said that she made late Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru cry when she sang the patriotic song ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo’ after the Sino-India conflict in the early 1960s.
Many people from various walks of life including political leaders, late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been her cheerleaders and regularly acknowledged her gift of voice.
Lata Mangeshkar wasn’t just a voice, she was a dignified force of nature, the Indian believed.
Lata Mangeshkar had also sung Nepali songs for Nepali films.
Meanwhile, Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari expressed condolences over the sad demise of iconic singer Lata Mangeshkar
Expressing grief over the demise of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar on Sunday, Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari stated that “I am saddened by the news of the demise of the famous Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar, who has decorated many Nepali songs with her melodious voice.”
The last rites of legendary singer’s mortal remains were performed at Shivaji Park accorded with state honour.
