Birthday Special: 11 Little Known Facts About Melody Queen Alka Yagnik

 Alka Yagnik is one of the most loved Indian female playback singers. In her career spanning over four decades, she has mesmerized the listeners with some of the most unforgettable tunes. She rose to superstardom in the ‘90s and her songs remain chartbusters. Pick up any movie from the ‘90s Bollywood and there will be at least one or two Alka Yagnik soulful songs in them. (Download Mzaalo - the free movie watching app for your android or iOS and enjoy the best of Bollywood movies online for free. You will also win exciting reward coins from top brands like Clayton Fashion Jewels, Provogue, Solo-Pump, etc.)

Born and raised in Calcutta, she started singing at a very young age of 10 for Akashvani. Recipient of many awards and the voice behind multiple melodious Hindi film songs, Alka Yagnik would turn 55 on 20th March 2021. Here are 11 little known facts about Alka Yagnik - the melody queen of Bollywood: -

1.       Do you know that Alka Yagnik is a classically trained singer who began singing bhajans for Akashvani (All India Radio), Calcutta at the age of six?

2.       Her first Bollywood song was for the film Payal Ki Jhankaar in 1980. This was followed by Laawaris in 1981 with the song Mere Angane Mein, followed by the film Hamari Bahu Alka in 1982.

3.       Alka Yagnik’s first big break was the song Ek Do Teen from the film Tezaab was released in 1988. This peppy Bollywood dance number became an iconic one and established the golden career not only for Alka Yagnik but for Madhuri Dixit too.

4.      In her career spanning over 4 decades, Alka has sung in as many as 20 languages like Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, etc.

5.      Alka Yagnik holds a record of winning 7 Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer out of 36 nominations. She is also a proud recipient of 2 National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer.

6.       You may be delighted to learn that as many as 20 of Alka Yagnik Hit Songs have been featured in BBC's “Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time” review.

7.      Do you know that Alka Yagnik is ranked No. 1 in YouTube’s Music Charts & Insights List of Top Global Artists as of 21st January 2021? She has remained on the chart for 227 weeks with 354 million views. Isn’t that commendable?

8.   Alka Yagnik has sung at least 2486 Hindi songs in 1114 films and that makes her one of the most prolific Bollywood singers of all time. She is only after Asha Bhonsle (7886 songs), Mohd. Rafi (7405 songs), Lata Mangeshkar (5596 songs), and Kishore Kumar (2707 songs).

9.    She has sung the maximum number of female solos in her Bollywood career only after Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle.

10.   Alka Yagnik is often known as the queen of playback singing. On Mother’s Day, 2019 (12th May), she became the most-streamed Indian artist-mom on Spotify. TOI has referred to her as a honey-voiced singer while HT has conferred her with a magical voice title.

11.   In a poll conducted by DesiMartini, HT, and Fever 104 FM, Alka Yagnik became the owner of the best song of the century and the song in question is Taal Se Taal Mila from the movie Taal that was released in 1999. Another song of Alka Yagnik Choli Ke Peechhe was voted the hottest song of the century.

We wish Alka Yagnik - the melody queen of Bollywood a very happy birthday.