Lata Mangeshkar
is an Indian playback singer, and occasional music-composer. She is one
of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India.
Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over seven decades.
She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung
songs in over thirty-six regional Indian languages and foreign
languages, though primarily in Marathi and Hindi. She is the elder
sister of singers Asha Bhosle, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar
and Meena Mangeshkar. India's highest award in cinema, the Dadasaheb
Phalke Award, was bestowed on her in 1989 by the Government of India.
She is the second vocalist, after M. S. Subbulakshmi, to have ever been
awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor.
