Lata Mangeshkar, the living legend

News24 Bureau

Lata Mangeshkar, the most popular singer India has ever known, the living legend turns 81 today.

Lata didi is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Lataji`s career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Bollywood movies and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional Indian languages and foreign languages, but primarily in Hindi. She is the second vocalist ever to have received the Bharat Ratna, India`s highest civilian honour.

Few of us know that Lataji`s first Playback was in a Marathi film in 1942 - Kitti Haasal and 1942 - Pahili Mangalagaur. Also, she even acted in a few marathi films.

Lata ji has been voted as The Most Important Indian of the 20th Century (Arts) in a Net Survey By IndiaWorld.com.

She was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world. The claim was that she had recorded no less than 25,000 solo, duet, and chorus-backed songs in 20 Indian languages between 1948 to 1974 (30,000 songs between 1948 and 1987, according to the 1987 edition). Over the years, while several sources have supported this claim, others have raised concerns over its veracity, claiming that this number was highly exaggerated and that Mangeshkar`s sister, Asha Bhosle, had more song recordings than she had.

Some of Lataji`s awards

1969 : Padam Bhushan

1974 : Guinness Book of World Records:for singing the maximum number

of songs in the world

1980 : Was presented key of the city of Georgetown, Guyana, South America

1980 : Honorary Citizenship. The Republic of Suriname, South America

1985 : 9th June declared as Asia Day in honour of her arrival in Toronto, Canada

1987 : Honorary Citizenship of the U.S.A, Houston, Texas, U.S.A

1989 : Dada Saheb Phalke Award

1990 : Honorary Doctorate (Literature) By Pune University

1998 : Lux Zee Cine Lifetime Achievement Award

1999 : Padma Vibhushan