Alka Yagnik

Biography

Alka Yagnik (born 20 March 1966) is an Indian playback singer who worked predominantly in Hindi cinema from the 1980s to mid 2010s. One of the most prominent singers of 1990s era Bollywood, she has received several accolades including two National Film Awards, two Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards and seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer from thirty-seven nominations. She was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for her contribution to Indian music and playback singing in 2026. Alka is cited as 'Voice of a Generation' and has been referred to as the 'Melody Queen' of Indian cinema.
Yagnik has sung the most female solo songs in Bollywood, behind only Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Several of her soundtracks were included in the BBC "Top 40 Bollywood soundtracks of all time".
Yagnik is the most popular music artist of all time on YouTube, with a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records stating the figure as 17 billion streams in 2021 and 16.6 billion in 2020. As of 2026, she is the most streamed weekly music artist on Youtube.

Early life

Yagnik was born in Kolkata on 20 March 1966 to a Gujarati family. Her father's name is Dharmendra Shankar. Her mother Shubha was a singer of Indian classical music. In 1972 at age six, she started singing for Akashvani (All India Radio), Calcutta. At age 10, her mother brought her to Mumbai as a child singer. She was advised to wait until her voice matured, but her mother remained determined. On a subsequent visit, Yagnik got a letter of recommendation to Raj Kapoor from his Kolkata distributor. Kapoor heard the girl and sent her with a letter to noted music director Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar. Impressed, Laxmikant gave her two alternatives – an immediate start as a dubbing artist or a later break as a singer; Shubha chose the latter for her daughter. Yagnik mentioned that she was a bright student but didn't like studies.

Career

Alka Yagnik began singing at the age of four and was trained in classical music. She has sung romantic, sad, peppy, and item number songs across a career spanning more than four decades. Yagnik frequently sang duets with Kumar Sanu, followed by Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam, and is regarded as a leading female playback singer of the 1990s. She has credited veteran composers Laxmikant–Pyarelal and Kalyanji–Anandji for mentoring and shaping her voice.

In the media and legacy

Yagnik is recognised as one of the most versatile female playback singers in India. She became the most-streamed Indian artist-mom on Spotify in 2019. Publications such as Rolling Stone, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and Mid-Day have cited her voice and versatility, and Filmfare has recognised her as one of India's celebrated playback singers. NDTV mentioned Alka as 'Voice of 90s Heroines' and 'Queen of Solos and Duets'. Contemporary singers Lata Mangeshkar, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Ila Arun, Kumar Sanu and Akriti Kakkar and composers such as A.R. Rahman, Lalit Pandit, Vani Jairam, and M.M. Keeravani have praised her vocal ability, versatility, and contribution to Indian music.

Personal life

Yagnik married Shillong-based businessman Neeraj Kapoor in 1989, with whom she has a daughter named Syesha.
In 2024 she was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss.