In India, Bollywood Music Industry is one of the top grossing industries. The songs released through movies and albums and the live concerts organised for singers, make the public go mad. When it comes to singers, many have come and gone but there are some legendary ones who can never be replaced by anyone and they have their fans all over the world. So, here is a list of Top 10 Best Indian Singers of All Time, according to the audience.
10. Arijit Singh
Arijit Singh, born on April 25, 1987, is an Indian singer and composer. He has sung many songs in various Indian languages but mainly Hindi, Bengali and Telugu. He has bagged a National Award, six Filmfare Awards and many other titles in his ongoing singing career and is known as the “King of Playback Singing”. He was widely recognised for his songs in the movie “Ashiqui 2” and has gathered fans and been loved since.
9. K. K
Krishnakumar Kunnath or KK is a playback singer, whose songs have always been a huge hit among the audience. He sings songs in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati. The audience goes mad listening to his old songs even today.
8. A.R Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman, born as A.S Dileep Kumar, was born on January 6, 1967. He is an Indian film composer, singer, songwriter and record producer. Among his various accolades, he is the recipient of Inda’s third-highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan, six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South. His songs are considered very soothing and relatable.
7. Shankar Mahadevan
Shankar Mahadevan, born on March 3, 1967, is an Indian singer and composer and is the part of the composing trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. He is the recipient of Padma Shri Award, presented by the President of India, among other accolades. He has received National Award and many Filmfares for his huge contribution to the Indian music industry. The ‘breathless’ singer has a huge fan-base and is loves for his work.
6. Shreya Ghoshal

Shreya Ghoshal, born on 12 March 1984, is an Indian playback singer. She has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awards, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, seven Filmfare Awards and ten Filmfare Awards South. She has recorded songs for films and albums in various Indian languages and has established herself as a leading playback singer of Indian cinema.
5. Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam, born on 30 July 1973, is an Indian singer, music director and actor. He is one of the most popular Bollywood singers of recent times and is recognised as one of the most versatile singer of all time. He sings predominantly in Hindi and Kannada language films but has also sung in Odia, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Nepali, Malayalam, Kannada and other Indian languages. Nigam has also released a number of non film albums and acted in some Hindi films. He is the son of the singer of Agam Kumar Nigam. He is known as the “Modern Rafi” after his idol Mohammad Rafi. He is also regarded as “The Lord Of Chords” and “The master of melody”. He has recorded more than 4000 songs till date.
4. Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle, born on 8 September 1933, is an Indian playback singer and entrepreneur. She is best known for her playback singing in Hindi cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Her career started in 1943 and has spanned over seven decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand movies. In addition, she has recorded several private albums and participated in numerous solo concerts in India and abroad. In 2006, Asha Bhosle stated that she had sung over 12,000 songs, a figure repeated by several other sources. In 2011, she was officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history. The Government of India honoured her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. Bhosle is the sister of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and belongs to the prominent Mangeshkar family.
3. Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar, born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987), was an Indian playback singer and actor. He was one of the most popular singers in the Indian film industry and from soft numbers to peppy tracks to romantic moods, Kumar sang in different genres but some of his rare compositions which were considered classics were lost in time. According to Ashok Kumar, Kumar’s success came because his voice hit the microphone straight at its most sensitive point. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music.
2. Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar, born as Hema Mangeshkar as 28 September 1929, is an Indian playback singer and music director. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. She has recorded songs in over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six Indian languages and foreign languages, though primarily in Marathi, Hindi and Bengali. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed on her in 1989 by the Government of India. In 2001, in recognition of her contributions to the nation, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour and is only the second vocalist, after M. S. Subbulakshmi, to receive this honour. France conferred on her its highest civilian award, the Officer of the Legion of Honour, in 2007. She is the recipient of three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and many more. In 1974, she became the first Indian to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
1. Mohammad Rafi
Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian film playback singer. He is considered one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He was notable for his versatility and range of voice; his songs varied from fast peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He received four Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honored with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the “Best Singer of the Millennium” title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN’s poll.
These legendary singers can never be substituted by anyone, for any reason.
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