Lata Mangeshkar is not just a name, it is a tune undefined. The most popular singer, India has ever known.
Born September 28, 1929 in Indore, Lata Mangeshkar has been active in all walks of Indian popular and light classical music having sung film songs, ghazals, bhajans and pop. She is the supreme voice of popular Indian music, an Indian Institution. Until the 1991 edition, when her entry disappeared, the Guinness Book of Records listed her as the most recorded artist in the world with not less than 30,000 solo, duet and chorus-backed songs recorded in 20 Indian languages between 1948 and 1987. Today the number might have reached 40,000!!!
Her first Playback was in a Marathi film in 1942 - Kitti Haasal(was not used)and 1942 - Pahili Mangalagaur (naatli chaitrachi navalai...), she even acted
in a few marathi films........and her first Hindi song(but in a Marathi Film)1943 - Gajabhau (maata ek sapoot ki duniya badal de tu...)
The Royal Albert Hall, London has recorded the graph of Lata's voice with the help of a computer which is by far the "Most Perfect" in the World.
Lataji has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by 6 universities including the New York University.
She has been Voted as The Most Important Indian of the 20th Century (Arts) in a Net Survey By IndiaWorld
Some of Lataji's awards include :
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
1999 : NTR Award
2000 : Lifetime Achievement Award by IIFA in London
2000 : Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar by the Chaturang PratishthanThe Bharat Ratna Award
2001 : Bharat Ratna - The Nation's Highest Civilian Award
2001: Noorjehan Award : First Reciepient
2001: Maharashtra Ratna : First Reciepient
2002: Felicitation By CII ( For Contribution to Music & the Film Industry)
2002: Hakim Khan Sur Award ( For National Integration by Maharana Mewar Foundation)
First Reciepient Doctor of Literature from Shivaji, Kolhapur, Pune, Khairagadh Music University, Hyderabad University & New York University. Lataji has received about 250 trophies and 150 gold discs The only Asian to have received the Platinum Disc of EMI London Swar Bharati award given by Shankaracharya of Sankeshwar In Tirupati, the title of Asthaan Sangeet Vidwaan Sarloo(Court Musician of the Shrine).