The happy go lucky Virgo was born on September 8th 1933 in Sangli district in Maharashtra, India. Asha is the younger sister of the famous singer Lata Mangeshkar. She started training at a young age of 6 with her father Dinanath Mangeshkar and started her professional career at the age of 10 and started signing for Marathi movies.
Asha eloped with Ganpatrao Bhosle when she was sixteen and got married to him. Her family however; never accepted their marriage. Asha became a mother of three children, but her marriage was in deep waters and she separated from her husband and returned to her parents. For years after being overshadowed by sister Lata she finally carved her niche and started signing more fast tracks. OP Nayyar gave her the perfect break and signed her for movies ‘Naya Daur’ and ‘Tumsa Nahi Dekha’.
In the late 1960’s Asha changed her singing technique after working with RD Burman as she started singing for the famous bad girls of Bollywood and became the voice of Helen and sang classics like “Piya Tu” and “Yeh Mera Dil”. Asha Bhosle’s association with RD Burman was not just restricted to music as the two tied the knot in 1980. The couple remained married until death did them apart.
For almost a decade Asha cashed on the cabaret wave and was tagged with the stereotype. Asha then, decided to for an image make-over and delivered the evergreen “Dil Cheez Kya Hai” number for the original ‘Umrao Jaan’. In 1995, despite being in her 60’s, the singer crooned for the sex diva Urmila Matondkar in ‘Rangeela’. In 1999, Asha also sang for ‘Taal’ and her songs topped the charts.
Asha also ventured into restaurant business and has an International food chain called ‘Asha’s’. Asha has also worked with a lot of international bands; In 1997, she sang a love song with ‘Code Red’ and her song was also featured in Nelly Furtado’s “I’, like a Bird”. Asha has also been active in the Indian Pop Music and her album with Adnan Sami “Kabhi To Nazar Milao” has been one of the biggest hits of all times. Age has been no barrier for Asha as her voice has magically remained young forever.
