Born on July 30, 1973, Sonu Nigam is an Indian playback singer, music director, actor, and dubbing artist. Sonu Nigam is the proud recipient of India’s fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri.
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In addition to singing in Bengali, Sindhi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Malayalam, Nepali, Tulu, Chhattisgarhi, Meitei, and other Indian languages, Nigam is most known for his work in Hindi and Kannada films. Nigam has also released a number of non-film albums. Sonu Nigam is referred to as the “Modern Rafi,” a moniker bestowed upon him in honour of his musical hero, Mohammad Rafi.
Sonu Nigam Childhood And individual Life
In 2017, Nigam and his spouse Madhurima attended Rakesh Roshan’s birthday.
In the city of Faridabad, Haryana, on July 30, 1973, Sonu Kumar Nigam was born to Agam Kumar Nigam and Shobha Nigam. His mother was from Garhwal, while his father was from Agra. He has two sisters: Teesha Nigam, a prominent singer, and Meenal Nigam, a yoga therapist.
At the age of four, Nigam took to the stage with his father Agam Kumar Nigam to perform the song “Kya Hua Tera Wada” by Mohammed Rafi. Nigam thereafter started to accompany his father as he sang at parties and weddings. At the age of 19, he relocated to Mumbai with his father to start his Bollywood singing career. Hindustani classical vocalist Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan provided him with training.
Nigam describes himself as a Hindu. On February 15, 2002, he wed Madhurima Mishra. Together, they have a son. Nigam chose to revert back to his given name after changing it to Sonu Niigaam due to his believe in numerology.
Sonu Nigam Composing And Singing
Sonu Nigam has recorded songs that are patriotic, rock, devotional, ghazal, and romantic. Nigam has released pop albums in Hindi, Kannada, Odia, Chhattisgarhi, and Punjabi in addition to Hindu and Islamic devotional albums. To date, he has sung in Hindi, Odia, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Kannada, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Tamil, and Telugu. He has a number of Buddhist albums out. North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia are among the nations in which Nigam has given performances.
He went on The Incredibles tour alongside Asha Bhosle, Kunal Ganjawala, and Kailash Kher in May and June 2007. He became the first Indian singer to do solo performances in Canada and Germany under the name Simply Sonu in September and October of that year. In April 2008, he promoted his Punjabi hit “Punjabi Please” by touring the country.
1992–1999: The start of a career
His debut song was recorded for the unreleased 1990 film Janam. The song “Hum To Chhaila Ban Gaye” from the 1992 DD1 TV serial “Talash” marked the beginning of Nigam’s career. Aaja Meri Jaan (1993) was the film in which Sonu Nigam debuted with the song “O Aasman Wale”. Nigam also performed the movie’s title song, although SP Balasubramaniam’s voice was substituted for Nigam’s. In 1992, he published his debut album, “Rafi Ki Yaadein”.
Subsequently, he sang in the following films: 1993’s Muqabla; 1993’s Veerta; 1993’s Meherbaan; 1993’s Shabnam; 1993’s Kasam Teri Kasam; 1994’s Aag; 1994’s Cheetah; 1995’s Khuddar; 1995’s Hulchul; 1995’s Stuntman; 1995’s Police Lockup; 1995’s Sauda; 1995’s Ramjaane; 1995’s Aazmayish; 1995, Naajayaz; Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), Papa Kahte Hain; 1996; Gaddaar; 1995; 1998’s Jaanwar; 1999’s Barsaat; 1995’s Aur Pyar Ho Gaya (1997), Badal; 1998’s Dulhe Raja; 1996, Jeet; 1996, Hero No. 1 (1997), 1998’s Soldier; 1998; Devta (1998), Keemat (1998), Himmatvar (1996), Hindustan Ki Kasam (1999), Shera (1999), Sooryavansham (1999), Hogi Pyaar Ki Jeet (1999), and many more.
In 1995, he started anchoring the wildly successful television programme Sa Re Ga Ma. Greater success came from his song “Accha Sila Diya” for the movie Bewafa Sanam. In 1997, he performed the hugely hit song “Yeh Dil Deewana” composed by Nadeem-Shravan in Pardes and the patriotic song “Sandese Aate Hai” from the movie Border.
His breakthrough Tamil song, “Vaarayo Thozhi” from Jeans, “Mujhe Raat Din” from Sangharsh, “Ruki Ruki” from Mast, “Satrangi Re” from Dil Se, “Ishq Bina” from Taal, and “Zindagi Maut na Ban Jaye” from Sarfarosh (1999) were among the songs he made notable at this time. T-Series released Sonu’s album Deewana in 1999. Sajid-Wajid directed the album’s music.
2000s: A career high point
During this time, “Suraj Hua Maddham” and “You are my Soniya” from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham were two of his most popular songs. and “Tanhayee” from Dil Chahta Hai, “Tu Fiza Hai” from Fiza, and “Panchi Nadiya Pawan Ke” from the movie Refugee, all three of which he sung alongside Alka Yagnik. For the A.R. composer Saathiya’s title song from the 2002 movie Saathiya, he won his first Filmfare Award. Gulzar wrote the lyrics for Rahman. The song “Kal Ho Naa Ho” from the 2003 film of the same name, composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy with lyrics by Javed Akhtar, was his biggest hit during this time.
He won a third IIFA Award for Best Male Playback Singer, his only National Film Award, and his second and final Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song.
His hit songs from 2004 onward are “Main Hoon Na” and “Tumse Milke Dil ka” from the movie Main Hoon Na; “Do Pal” from Veer-Zaara, where he sang with Lata Mangeshkar; “Chup Chup Ke” from Bunty Aur Babli; “Pyar Ki Ek Kahani” and “Koi Tumsa Nahin” from the movie Krrish, where he sang with Shreya Ghoshal; “Sun Zara” and “Chori Chori Chupke Se” from the Salman Khan film Lucky: No Time for Love; “Dekho Na” and “Mere Haath Mein” from Fanaa, both with Sunidhi Chauhan; “Inn Lamhon ke Daaman Mein” from Jodhaa Akbar; and “Main Agar Kahoon” from Om Shanti Om.
He and Shreya Ghoshal sung four songs together in the movie Parineeta. The songs “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna”, “Tumhi Dekho Naa”, and “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna – Sad Version” from Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), with lyrics by Javed Akhtar and music created by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, were his most popular and well-received hits during this time. He sung these songs with Alka Yagnik.
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In 3 Idiots, he was the primary playback vocalist for the songs “Jaane Nahin Denge Tujhe,” “Zoobi Doobi,” and “Aal Izz Well.” He sang the well-received song “Shukran Allah” in the movie Kurbaan, featuring Salim Merchant of the Salim-Sulaiman composing combo and Shreya Ghoshal. Mohammed Rafi’s songs have been released on CDs by Nigam, notably Rafi Ki Yaadein, an early collection that was reissued in September 2007 as a six-disc compilation of 100 songs called Kal Aaj Aur Kal in honour of Rafi.
Shortly after the publication of Classically Mild in 2008, he published Rafi Resurrected, a two-disc compilation of Rafi songs with music by the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and a single Punjabi song called “Punjabi Please”. Sonu Nigam directed the music for his album Chanda Ki Doli and wrote words for a number of the tracks.
Nigam recorded a song in memory to Michael Jackson upon his passing, and it was featured on the album The Beat of Our Hearts. In November 2007, Nigam performed with the Harvard College Sangeet the beloved bhajan “Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye” by Mahatma Gandhi during the inauguration of Drew Gilpin Faust as the 28th president of Harvard University.
With the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), he sang Rafi tunes during a three-city tour of the United Kingdom in July 2008. This came after the Indian music group Sa Re Ga Ma and the CBSO released these songs on Rafi Resurrected. Sonu Nigam took part in the 2009 The Explosion tour in the US with Sunidhi Chauhan and the November 2010 All Izz Well tour in the UK. Nigam worked with Kakas Entertainment and Laxmikant-Pyarelal on a Maestros Concert in 2011 that featured songs by Mohammed Rafi.
2010–present
In 2010, Sonu won the Best Playback Singer of the Decade (2000–2010) (MALE) BIG Star Entertainment Award, Best Live Performer (Male), and Global Indian Music Academy Award for his song “All izz Well.”
Because Sonu fought for singers’ royalties and refused to sign illegal contracts with businesses, many of his songs were redubbed in the voices of other singers by music firms between 2012 and 2015. Sonu stated, “I am not scared of being out of work because eventually good sense will prevail,” .
Sonu’s song “Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin” from the movie Agneepath got extremely popular in 2012. Sonu’s “Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin” is one of his best songs; he considers it to be one of his best songs. For this song, he won numerous awards, including the 5th Mirchi Music Awards for Male Vocalist of the Year, BIG Star Entertainment Awards 2012, 18th Lions Gold Awards, 2013 Zed Cine Awards, 19th Lions Gold Award, 2013 Times of India Film Awards, and many more.
Twice in September and October of 2013, he was the top artist on the US Billboard Uncharted charts The two songs he sang for the film PK were “Bhagwan Hai Kahan Re Tu” and “Love is a Waste of Time,” a duet with Shreya Ghoshal. In addition, Sonu collaborated with Chutney Music to produce a single named “Trini Ladki” in 2014.
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“Tere Bin” from Wazir, which he sung with Shreya Ghoshal, was also well-received. In 2015, Sonu’s third collaboration with Ajay–Atul, “Sapna Jahan” from Brothers, gained popularity.
For the initiative Gulam Bandhu, Nigam and music director Khayyam recorded a song in September 2015.[39] Sonu also worked with artists from all across the world on John Lennon’s Imagine (UNICEF: World Version). Sonu released two singles in 2016: “First Date,” sung by Sonu & Jonita Gandhi, and “Crazy Dil,” featuring Rajkumar Hirani, Farah Khan, Sunil Grover, Kailash Kher, Natalie Di Luccio, and Sonu himself with his son Nevaan.
In Bollywood music, he sang “Tu Hi Na Jaane” from Azhar and “Dard” from Sarabjit. Tu Hi Na Jaane was Sonu’s first collaboration with music composer Amaal Mallik. He also collaborated with transgender band “6 Pack Band” for the song “Sab Rab De Bande.” Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar collaborated with Sonu on his debut single “Sachin’s Cricket Wali Beat”. In 2017, Sonu made another international collaboration, this time with Indian-American DJ kshmr on the song “Underwater.” His independent song with Shreya Ghoshal, called “Aye Jahaan Aasmaan,” won him 9th Mirchi Music Awards for Indie Pop Song of the Year.
Aside from “Hans Mat Pagli” and “Gori Tu Latth Maar” from Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which were well received, Sonu also sang “Halka Halka” from Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees, which was later released on YouTube.[42] Sonu also sang “Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahin” from Meri Pyaari Bindu.
Sonu wrote the song “Kuch Baaqi Hai” for the film Half Widow, which he also performed; he also collaborated with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan on the song “Aazaadiyan” from Begum Jaan, which was written by Anu Malik.
Sonu teamed up with Meet Bros for the dance number “Totta” feat. Sonu Nigam with Kainaat Arora. In 2018, Sonu collaborated with American Rapper MC Yogi for the song “Hall Of Fame”. Sonu sang the song “Aye Zindagi” composed by Vishal Mishra having five other versions of Asha Bhosle, Alka Yagnik, Suresh Wadkar, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, and Shaan (singer).
In Bollywood, he sang the hit song “Main Badhiya Tu Bhi Badhiya” from Sanju. He then sang the catchy song “Kulfi” from 102 Not Out, a duet with Salim–Sulaiman. Sonu reteamed with Anu Malik for the songs “Raat Kitni” and “Main Zinda Hoon” from the film Paltan.
He then performed a rendition of “Badan Pe Sitare,” which was originally performed by his idol Mohammad Rafi for the Anil Kapoor film Fanney Khan. Sonu stated that at first he was apprehensive to perform the song because he didn’t want to change the original lyrics, but Kapoor asked him to do so because he was portraying an ardent fan of Mohammad Rafi in the movie and wanted Sonu to lend his voice.
In addition, Sonu sang songs for social causes: he co-wrote the song “Mumbai River Anthem” with Amruta Fadnavis to protect Mumbai Rivers, and he sang the song “Tik Tik Plastic” with the social message “Say No To Plastic” .
The audience was glued to their seats for the four-hour performances of Sonu’s renditions of his own songs and classic hits originally sung by legendary singers Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi. Sonu travelled to the United Kingdom on November 14, 2021, as part of his “Rafi Kishore aur Main” tour, which was presented by Grace Entertainment. Sonu assembled a group of highly skilled and in-demand musicians from all over India for the show, in addition to several who had contributed to the original compositions.”[47][48]
Sonu also became the first Indian singer to launch an NFT with digital media company JetSynthesys, and his NFT Series includes his English-language single “Hall of Fame” and pages from his personal diary where he has penned down important moments of his life and details of his practice and recording session along with lyrics of his popular songs.
The label “I Believe Music”
On July 30, 2020, the day of his 47th birthday, Nigam established his own record label, “I Believe Music.” The first song to be released under the label is “Rudhrashtakam.” Along with working with drummer Bickram Ghosh on the soundtrack for Jal and Sooper Se Ooper, he composed the music for several more films in 2013 in addition to the title track of Singh Saab The Great.
Sonu Nigam Employed In Kannada
Nigam has sung over 900 Kannada songs. His debut Kannada song, “Yello Yaro Hego,” was composed by Koti and has lyrics by R. N. Jayagopal for the 1996 film Jeevanadhi.
The songs he composed are “Cheluve Yeke Bande” from the movie Majnu, “Titanic Heroine Nee Nanna Cheluve” from the movie Snehaloka, “Hamsave Hamsave” from the movie Gatti Mela, composed by Hamsalekha, “Kannale Kannale” from the movie Aham Premasmi, composed by V. Ravichandran , and “Baaninda Baa Chandira,” from the movie Kanti, composed by Gurukiran. Mostly in Karnataka, the 2006 movie Mungaru Male caused a stir and broke multiple records.
“Mungaru Maleye” was composed by Mano Murthy, while “Anisuthide” was written by Jayant Kaikini and Yogaraj Bhat. In a Deccan Herald interview, Nigam stated that he finds Kannada songs more fulfilling than Hindi numbers. Sonu also stated that he highly respects Karnataka’s musicians and that many of his favourite songs are in Kannada. Nigam also stated that he views Bangalore as his second birthplace and that he will sing a Kannada song for someone if they ask him to while he’s performing in the West Indies.
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Producer Ashok Kheny brought together composer Murthy, lyricist Kaikini, and musician Nigam to make the Kannada album Neene Bari Neene. The album included the same Mungaru Male group. Nigam wrote the theme song for the Karnataka Bulldozers team in the Celebrity Cricket League, which he sang with Kunal Ganjawala and Sowmya Raoh, who also wrote the lyrics. The videos for the songs “Neene Bari Neene” and “Baa Nodu Gelathi” were shot outside of Bangalore and starred Nigam and model Madhuri Bhattacharya.
Sonu Nigaam As a Celebrity judge And Host
From 1995 until 1999, Nigam hosted the Sa Re Ga Ma music show, which helped him become well-known. In October 2007, he returned to the show as a judge alongside Suresh Wadkar on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs International. On December 12, 2009, Nigam served as a celebrity judge for the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Mega Challenge grand finale.
In 2002, Nigam hosted the Kisme Kitna Hai Dum television programme on Star Plus. In Indian Idol’s first two seasons (October 2004–March 2005 and November 2005–April 2006), he served as a judge. In seasons three and four (August 17, 2007 and January 16, 2009 and February 6, 2009), he served as a celebrity judge.[citation needed]
Interviewing musicians, Nigam presented Life Ki Dhun with Sonu Nigaam on Radiocity 91.1 FM in 2006. In August 2007 (Season 1), December 2008 (Season 2), and on July 12, 2008, during the grand finale of the music reality show Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star, he made appearances as a celebrity judge on STAR Voice of India.
Along with Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Nigam served as a judge and coach on Chhote Ustaad – Do Deshon Ki Ek Awaaz from July to October 2010. Additionally, Nigam served in the same capacity on the inaugural season of X Factor (India) from May 29 to September 2, 2011, alongside Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Shreya Ghoshal.
He shared his life stories on “The Anupam Kher Show” on August 23, 2015. Additionally, he served as one of Indian Idol’s three judges from 2016 to 2017.
In addition, Sonu has hosted the Mirchi Music Awards for the third, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, thirteenth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth times. In 2021, Sonu Nigam, along with Kumar Sanu and Kaushiki Chakraborty, participated as a judge on the Bengali music reality show Super Singer Season 3 on Star Jalsha.
Sonu Influence And Style Of Singing
One of Bollywood’s most well-known playback singers, Nigam is largely credited for inspiring a new generation of vocalists in the country . Because of his similar voice texture, he is frequently compared to Mohammad Rafi. Lata Mangeshkar said of him, “Among contemporary signers, I like Sonu Nigam best. He is serious about his music, has learned classical and sings with confidence.” Armaan Malik, a singer, draws a lot of inspiration from him. Ankit Tiwari, a musician, also cites Nigam. Shreya Ghoshal views Sonu as her favourite contemporary singer. Palash Sen of Euphoria called Sonu Nigam the most talented singer in Bollywood. His singing was highly acclaimed by S.P. Balasubrahmanyam.
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