Sonu Nigam: A Voice Called the Modern Rafi

Sonu Nigam began singing in public at four and has since recorded songs in dozens of languages. His story is often told through one comparison, the singer he grew up copying. This piece uses his published biography to show how he rose, what the record counts, and what other singers say of him.

A child on stage in Faridabad

According to his Wikipedia biography, Nigam was born on 30 July 1973 in Faridabad, Haryana, to Agam Kumar Nigam and Shobha Nigam. His father was from Agra and his mother from Garhwal. He began singing at four, joining his father on stage to sing Mohammed Rafi's "Kya Hua Tera Wada", and accompanied him at weddings and parties. He moved to Mumbai with his father at 19 to begin a Bollywood singing career, and was trained by the Hindustani classical singer Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.

Overshadowed, then a household name

The biography says his early 1990s career was initially overshadowed by Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu. He gained recognition with the television serial song "Hum To Chhaila Ban Gaye" from Talash (1992) and then with "Sandese Aate Hai" from Border and "Yeh Dil Deewana" from Pardes. His album Deewana (1999) became popular.

From 1995 to 2000 he hosted the music show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, which the biography says made him a household name. In the 2000s came hits such as "Suraj Hua Maddham" and "You Are My Soniya" from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, "Tanhayee" from Dil Chahta Hai and "Kal Ho Naa Ho" from the film of the same name, which earned him a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award.

The numbers and the names

The biography says he has recorded over 6,000 songs in more than 32 languages, and has sung more than 900 songs in Kannada, starting with "Yello Yaro Hego" in 1996. He has won one National Film Award, two Filmfare Awards, two Filmfare Awards South and four IIFA Awards for Best Playback Singer, and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022.

He has been nicknamed the "Modern Rafi" after his idol Mohammed Rafi, whose vocal texture his is often compared to, and he released tribute albums such as Rafi Resurrected. At one point he changed his name to "Sonu Niigaam" citing numerology, before returning to his birth name.

Collaborations beyond film

He worked on a remix of Britney Spears's "I Wanna Go" in 2011, collaborated with Jermaine Jackson on "This Is It", performed at the 12th IIFA Awards, and in 2012 released "Indian Levels", a remix of Avicii's "Levels". He launched the label I Believe Music in 2020.

Judge, host and mentor

He has been a judge on shows including Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs, STAR Voice of India, X Factor India and Indian Idol (2016-17), and has hosted several Mirchi Music Awards ceremonies.

What others say

The biography quotes Lata Mangeshkar: "Among contemporary singers, I like Sonu Nigam the best. He is serious about his music, has learnt classical and sings with confidence". Sunidhi Chauhan said that listening to him live you could not tell whether he was singing live or in the studio, and Arijit Singh called him the ultimate versatile singer. The Times of India has described him as a notable live performer. These are tributes from colleagues, not measurements, and they agree on one point: control.

Personal life

He married Madhurima Mishra in 2002, and they have a son. His sister Teesha Nigam is also a singer.

Sources

*Cover photo: Faisal Akram, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).*