Sonu Nigam

- July -

  Sonu was born to Mr Agam Kumar Nigam and Mrs Shobha Nigam on July 30, 1973 in Faridabad, Haryana, India. He attended the J.D. Tytler School. He has two sisters, Meenal and Neekita. Sonu is very close to his parents. Sonu got married to Madhurima on 15 February 2002 and their son, Nevaan was born five years later on July 25, 2007. He recently changed the spelling of his last name from 'Nigam' to 'Niigaam' in accordance with numerology. Sonu Nigam began his singing career at the age of three, when he joined his father on stage to sing Mohammad Rafi's "Kya Hua Tera Wada". From then on, he accompanied his father on his singing assignments at weddings and parties. In his teenage years, he participated in several music competitions successfully. At the age of 18 he moved to Mumbai with his father where he took singing lessons and began his Bollywood singing career.His initial years in Mumbai proved to be a struggle, and he started by singing covers of Mohammad Rafi songs, mainly for the "Rafi Ki Yaadein" album series. These albums contributed to his label for some time as a "Rafi clone." His first movie song as a playback singer was in the movie, "Janum" (1990), which was never officially released. He got a break as a playback singer in the movie, "Aaja Meri Jaan". He then sang the song, "Accha Sila Diya", for the album, "Bewafa Sanam" in 1995, which gave him the recognition as an established playback singer. That same year he started hosting the talent show "Sa Re Ga Ma," which soon became one of the most popular shows on Indian television. Singing offers started coming in slowly after that. In 1997 Sonu Nigam rose to fame with the song, "Sandese Aate Hain", in the movie Border. Since then he has sung hundreds of songs and has become a major force in the Indian music industry. He has provided playback singing for a large number of Hindi movies and won many awards. He is recognised for his versatile voice as well as excellent emotion range. Sonu has sung with clear pronunciations, in many languages besides Hindi, including Bengali, Oriya, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi. Sonu has also released a number of pop albums, both in Hindi and in Punjabi. The very recent addition to this list is "Classically Mild. He has also several released of albums of Mohammad Rafi's songs, as well as devotional albums. Of recent releases, In September 2007, he released a 6-disc collection of Mohammad Rafi's 100 best songs in the latter's memory. The collection is titled "Kal, Aaj, Aur Kal". Soon after releasing "Classically Mild", he released a single Punjabi track called "Punjabi Please" and a devotional album. Over the years. Sonu has given concert performances in many countries, including United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Russia, Afghanistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bangkok, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, West Indies, Mauritius, Nigeria and South Africa. In 2007 he gave a solo concert titled, "Simply Sonu", in Canada and Germany, (becoming the first Indian singer to perform in the latter country). In November 2007, he sang at the inauguration of Harvard University's 28th president, Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust. In July 2008, he participated in a three-city tour of the United Kingdom, singing numerous famous Mohammad Rafi songs with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. This followed the release of these songs by the CBSO and the Indian music company Sa Re Ga Ma in a historic album entitled "Rafi Resurrected". He has hinted at taking this Rafi Ressurected tour to the USA, Europe and India. Besides "Sa Re Ga Ma," Sonu Nigam has also hosted the TV show Kisme Kitna Hai Dum and has been a judge on several talent shows including Indian Idol and Amul Star Voice of India. In 2006, Sonu also hosted his own radio show called 'Life Ki Dhun With Sonu Niigaam' on Radiocity 91 FM, where he had the opportunity of interviewing several music industry greats, including the legendary Lata Mangeshkar.Sonu's acting career started as a child artist in a number of films including 1983s Betaab. As an adult, Sonu has acted in a few more films namely Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani; Kash Aap Hamare Hote and Love in Nepal. However these films did not do so well at the box office.His future projects include an English album called "Spirit Unfolding". He may be acting in a new film called Ankhon Hi Ankhon Mein, about a blind singer, along with playback singing for a number of upcoming films, including Striker, Yaariyan, Run Mein Fun and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi among others. Sonu has done various charity work all over India as well as abroad for Dignity Foundation, Cancer organizations, Leprosy organizations, Blindness organizations, Womens welfare organizations, Kargil war affected families, Earthquake affected families. He also sponsors a child from the organization “Crayon”.

Awards

• 2008, GPBA (German Public Bollywood Award), Best Singer (Male) for Mein Agar Kahoon, Om Shanti Om
• 2007, Annual Central European Bollywood Awards, Best Male Playback Singer for Mein Agar Kahoon, Om Shanti Om
• 2007, Bollywood Music Awards, Best Male Playback Singer for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Title Track.
• 2006, Star Screen Award Best Male Playback, for the song "Dheere Jalna", from the film "Paheli"
• 2005, MTV Immies - Best Pop Album, for his self-composed album titled "Chanda Ki Doli".^[28]
• 2005, Anadolok Award for "Chanda Ki Doli" album.
• 2005, Lion Gold's Award for the song Main Hoon Na from the film "Main Hoon Na"
• 2005, Teachers' Achievement Award
• 2005, Most Stylish People In Music, MTV Style Awards.
• 2004, MTV Immies - Best Male Singer, for the song "Main Hoon Na", from the film "Main Hoon Na"
• 2004, National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer, for the song "Kal Ho Naa Ho", from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho
• 2004, IIFA Best Male Playback Award, for the song "Kal Ho Naa Ho", from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho
• 2004, Bollywood Music Award for Best Male Playback Singer for "Kal Ho Na Ho" from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho
• 2004, Apsara Film Producers' Guild Award for Best Male Playback Singer for "Kal Ho Na Ho" from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho
• 2003, Filmfare Best Male Playback Award, for the song "Kal Ho Naa Ho", from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho".
• 2003, Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer- Male, for the song "Saathiya", from the film "Saathiya"
• 2003, IIFA Best Male Playback Award, for the song "Saathiya", from the film "Saathiya"
• 2003, MTV Immies - Best Male Singer, for the song "Saathiya" from the film "Saathiya".
• 2003, Bollywood Music Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Saathiya" from the film "Saathiya"
• 2003, Most Stylish People In Music, MTV Style Awards
• 2002, Filmfare Best Male Playback Award, for the song "Saathiya", from the film Saathiya.
• 2002, Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer- Male, for the song "Suraj Hua Maddham", from the film "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham"
• 2002, IIFA Best Male Playback Award, for the song "Suraj Hua Maddham", from the film "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham"
• 2002, Bollywood Music Award for Best Pop Singer for the album "Yaad"
• 2002, Bollywood Music Award for Best Male Singer for the song "Tanhayee" from the film "Dil Chahta Hai"
• 2001, Star Screen Award Best Male Playback, for the song "Tanhayee", from the film "Dil Chahta Hai"
• 1998, Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer- Male, for the song "Sandese Aate Hai", from the film "Border"
• 1998, Star Screen Award for Best Male Pop Artist.
• 1997, Aashirwad Award for Best Male Singer for the song "Sandese Aate Hai", from the film "Border"
• 1997, Sansui Viewers' Choice Award for Best Male Singer for the song "Sandese Aate Hai", from the film "Border"

Memorable hits

Filmography