MUMBAI: With versatility as her middle name, Asha Bhosle still sings the way she used to during her prime.
The singing legend has joined the likes of the Beatles, Michael Jackson and Rolling Stones in a new list of world’s top twenty music icons of the past 50 years by CNN.
The list, compiled by CNN’s new arts and culture show ‘Icon’ in conjunction with music magazine Songlines, also includes Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Bob Marley, Celia Cruz, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Arabic superstar Khaled and sufi legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Bhosle began her career in playback singing in the shadow of her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar, first gained popularity with Maang Ke Saath Tumhara in Dilip Kumar-Vaijayatimala starrer Naya Daur in 1957.
The singer has given some of the greatest hits with her music composer husband RD Burman, who was instrumental in directing some of her biggest hits like O Haseena and Piya Tu Aab to Aaja.
Though she is over 70 years of age, she still continues to give stiff competition to singers who are half her age. The talented singer can sing a ghazal and a peppy cabaret number with good levels of energy and style.
“The brightest star in Bollywood, Asha Bhosle is the queen of playback singing, having recorded over 10,000 songs for more than 800 movies. Initially typecast as a vamp, Bhosle’s versatile range secured her rise to stardom and a career that has spanned six decades,” the news network said to the media about the singer.
The website is also conducting an online poll to choose the top five from among the shortlisted 20 artistes and the results will be announced on August 25.