India mourns ‘Queen of Melody’ Lata Mangeshkar

NEW DELHI: Lata Mangeshkar, whose distinctive voice placed her in the first rank of Indian singers for more than seven decades, died on Sunday at a hospital in Mumbai. She was 92.
The cause of death was COVID-19 complications. She was admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Mumbai on Jan. 11.
“She died because of multi-organ failure after more than 28 days of hospitalization,” Dr. Pratit Samdani of Breach Candy Hospital told reporters.
The Indian government declared a two-day national mourning period, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he was “anguished beyond words” by Mangeshkar’s passing.
“The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerize people,” Modi said on Twitter.
Born in Indore, Mangeshkar began her career in 1942, singing the vocals for Bollywood heroines in a soprano that extended over three octaves, gaining her the titles of “Nightingale of India” and “Queen of Melody.
“The voice of a million centuries has left us,” Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan said in a tribute to Mangeshkar. “Her voice resounds now in the Heavens!”
The eldest of five siblings, she was trained by her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, a renowned Marathi theater actor. She was also tutored by maestros such as vocalist and composer Aman Ali Khan, and classical and ghazal singer Amanat Ali Khan.
She started singing at the age of 13 to support the family after her father died.
Her first hit was “Uthaye Ja Unke Sitam” in Mehboob Khan’s 1949 romantic drama “Andaz,” which featured legendary Bollywood film stars Dilip Kumar, Nargis and Raj Kapoor.
After “Andaz,” she voiced the musical parts of leading woman characters in the industry’s major productions, recording songs for more than 2,000 films in over a dozen Indian languages.
Notable among her live performances was a rendition of the patriotic song “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo” (”O’ people of my country”), which moved then-prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears. The song commemorated soldiers who died during the Sino-Indian War in 1962.
Mangeshkar often said that as a singer, one must “bring the soul to the song.”
She was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 2001.
Composer Lalit Pandit, who worked with Mangeshkar for many years, said: “Such an artist has not been there in the past, and would not be there in future.
“She gave playback for the heroines of all age and she would tune her voice in such a way that it would appear that the actresses are singing the song,” he told the media after the announcement of Mangeshkar’s death.
“She will be with us all the time despite her death. She was a jewel not only for India, but for the whole world.”

India mourns ‘Queen of Melody’ Lata Mangeshkar