Asha Bhosle, who has died aged 92, was the best-known singer in India, an extraordinary artist whose career spanned over eight decades, during which she recorded about 12,000 songs.
She first became famous as a playback singer – recording songs that would then be lip-synced by actors in Bollywood movies. Though she was not on screen, her voice made her even more celebrated than those pretending to sing her songs. She also recorded extensively under her own name, and after establishing her reputation in Asia became known to western audiences first through Brimful of Asha, the 1997 tribute song by Cornershop, and then through her collaborations with musicians as varied as Boy George, Kronos Quartet and, most recently, Gorillaz.
When she sang at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in 2002, as she was approaching her 70th birthday, the MC described her as “a living legend with over a billion fans … age cannot wither her”. And in this case the hyperbole was accurate. She had, after all, played a key role in the massive success of the Indian film industry, providing some of Bollywood’s best-loved songs, many of them written by her second husband, the celebrated composer RD Burman.
She sang mostly in Hindi but also in more than 20 other languages. On screen, her songs would often be accompanied by slick and lavish choreography, but at the Albert Hall she was the star, dressed in white. She started with one of her best-loved songs, Dum Maro Dum, from the 1971 film Hare Rama Hare Krishna, before moving on to a series of full-tilt ballads. One single concert could never give her enough time to show off the extraordinary variety of her massive recording output, which ranged from ghazals – poetic and emotional songs of spiritual or romantic love – through to energetic dance tunes and pop, but it was a memorable performance.
Born in Goar, Sangli State (present-day Maharashtra) in what was then British India, Ashalata – known as Asha – was the daughter of Pandit Mangeshkar and his wife, Shevanti (later re-named Shuddhamati). It was a musical household – her father was a singer and an actor-manager who ran a touring theatre company in which Asha’s elder sister, Lata, often sang. He died when Asha was nine, after which the family moved to Bombay (now Mumbai), where Lata had been offered work with a film company.
Lata would later become Asha’s only rival as queen of the Bollywood playback scene – though she had a very different, more classical and controlled style. There were many stories of rivalry or disputes between the two celebrity sisters, but they sang together on several occasions, with Asha insisting “blood is thicker than water”. They were certainly good friends when young – Lata famously refused to go to school unless she could bring Asha, then aged 10 months, into the classroom. The teacher would not allow it and so Lata quit.
Like her sister, Asha helped to support her mother through her singing. She recorded her first song Chala Chala Nav Bala (from the film Majha Bala) in 1943, when she was just 10. She became increasingly popular as a playback singer, but her personal life threatened to damage her career. When she was 16 she married Ganpatrao Bhosle, who worked as a secretary for Lata, against the wishes of her mother and sister. He was twice her age and attempted to cut her off from her family. She said later “there was abuse and ill treatment”, and they split up in 1960 when she was expecting her youngest son, Anand. “But I have no ill will,” she insisted. “If I had not met Mr Bhosle I would not have three amazing children.”
She had first met Burman in the mid-1950s, and 10 years later they worked on the film Teesri Manzil. They proved to be a powerful combination. Burman transformed Hindi film music by introducing elements of funk, jazz and rock, and he helped Asha develop her already remarkable voice. “Pancham [as he was known] uncovered my range,” she said. “Until Pancham made me explore the inner recesses of my voice … I was totally unaware that I could sing with such subtleness of throat.”
They married in 1980 and worked together until his death in 1994. One of Bollywood’s most celebrated couples, they were responsible for songs including Phir Se Aaiyo Badra Bidesi Tere Pankhon Par Moti Jharun (1982) and Khali Haath Shaam Aayi Hai (1987).
Many British music fans first became aware of India’s superstar vocalist when Cornershop recorded their tribute to “the one that keeps the dream alive” with Brimful of Asha. A remix version by Fatboy Slim reached No 1 in the UK charts early the following year, and No 16 in the US.
Ever eager to experiment, Bhosle collaborated several times with western artists. In 1991 she made a low-key recording with Boy George, singing on Bow Down Mister, a tribute to the Hare Krishna movement by his band Jesus Loves You, after George had visited India. In 2002 she sang with Michael Stipe (of the band REM) on The Way You Dream, by electronica exponents 1 Giant Leap. And in 2005 she teamed up with the experimental collective Kronos Quartet for string treatments of Burman compositions on the album You’ve Stolen My Heart. Singing with the Quartet at the Barbican, London, that year, she teased them for being “very serious”.
Most recently, she collaborated with Gorillaz, singing on The Shadowy Light from their 2026 album The Mountain. Damon Albarn of the group said her voice was his gateway to “the marvellous world of Bollywood”. She made her debut as a lead actor in 2013, when she appeared in the film Mai, a story of children abandoning their ailing parents.
Away from music, she was known for her love of cooking and cricket. She launched a restaurant chain, Asha’s, in Dubai in 2002, specialising in Indian fine dining, and it expanded across the Middle East and to Birmingham in the UK. In 2007 she worked with the Australian cricketer Brett Lee on You’re the One for Me, a “cheesy, stupid love song” he had written during the ICC Champions Trophy in India. It was of course a hit in India.
She played to a packed Wembley Arena in London several times, first in 1987 and finally in 2019 (when it was known as the SSE Arena, Wembley). Her last live performance was in Dubai in 2024.
Her daughter, Varsha, died in 2012, and her eldest son, Hemant, died in 2015. She is survived by Anand, who managed her career.
