Biography of Sonu Nigam – Indian modern Rafi | Singer, actor and a music director

Sonu Nigam is an Indian singer, actor, and music director having some of the most popular playback hits in Hindi and Kannada cinema. He is often regarded as the “modern Rafi” for his style of singing which is very similar to that of legendary singer, Mohammed Rafi. To date, Sonu has sung more than 6000 songs in about 28 different languages. He is also one of the popular faces in many Indi-pop albums and Hindi feature films. He received the Padma Shri honor from President Ram Nath Kovind on March 28, 2022.

Sonu Nigam Personal Details

Sonu Nigam’s Early Life

• Sonu started singing at the age of 4 when he sang Mohammad Rafi’s ‘Kya Hua Tera Wada on stage with his father.
• He used to accompany his father for singing appearances at weddings and parties.
• Sonu started his Bollywood singing career at the age of 19.
• He was trained by the famous Hindustani classical singer, Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.
• As per the numerology beliefs, Sonu earlier changed his name to ‘Sonu Niigaam’, but later shifted back to the original spelling.
• He has sung songs in many languages like Hindi, Oriya, Malayalam, English, Marathi, Nepali, Assamese, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, and Punjabi.
• Sonu is also known as the ‘Elvis Presley of India’.

Sonu Nigam’s Educational Qualifications

• Sonu completed his schooling at J.D. Tyler School, Delhi.
• He pursued his graduation from Delhi University.

Sonu Nigam’s Musical Journey

• Sonu debuted as an actor at the age of 10. He played the role of young Sunny Deol in the film, ‘Betaab’ (1983).
• He performed on Mahabharata’s title track in 1989 at the age of 16.
• Sonu started his career as a playback singer for the film, Janam (1990), but it was never officially released.
• He got his first official playback singing break in the movie, ‘Aaja Meri Jaan (1993)’ for the movie, ‘O Aasmaan Wale’.
• In 1995, one of Sonu’s songs, ‘Accha Sila Diya’ became a popular hit.
• Made his debut as a lead in the movie ‘Love in Nepal’ in 2004.
• Sonu debuted as a music director in 2013 in the movie, ‘Singh Saab the Great.
• His ‘Classically Mild’ album is the best among all other pop albums in Hindi and Punjabi.
• Sonu was a judge in various singing reality shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Indian Idol, and Kisme Kitna Hai Dum.
• He has released several Mohammad Rafi songs and devotional albums.
• Sonu launched his own music label, ‘I Believe Music’ on July 30, 2020, and released the ‘Rudhrashtakam’ track under the label.
• He sang songs for many films like, ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho, ‘Saathiya’, ‘Main Hoon Naa, ‘Veer-Zaara’, ‘Bunty Aur Babli’, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Fanaa’ and many more.
• Sonu released a tribute song for Michael Jackson, which was included in the tribute album, ‘The Beat of Our Hearts.
• He sang the title track of ‘Tees Maar Khan’ in 54 voices.

Sonu Nigam’s Awards and Accomplishments