\n<\/p>\n
Asha Bhosle, the Indian singer known as the voice of Bollywood, died in a Mumbai hospital on Sunday, April 12. Her son Anand Bhosle confirmed the news to Indian media. The cause of death was multiple organ failure after a cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n
Raised in a musical family, Bhosle began her career singing in low-budget films. After breakthrough songs with O. P. Nayyar, she rose to international renown as a playback singer\u2014the voice behind Bollywood compositions to which actors would lip-sync on screen. Her ineffable mix of classical virtuosity, coy flair, and occasionally risqu\u00e9 subject matter endeared her to a cross-generational fanbase that made her the toast of Bollywood for decades. Successive eras of film composers, from future husband R. D. Burman (who composed the vampy Bhosle classic \u201cDum Maro Dum\u201d) to younger artists like A. R. Rahman<\/a>, coveted Bhosle\u2019s voice, before she won over international converts like Michael Stipe<\/a> (who duetted with her on 2002\u2019s \u201cThe Way You Dream\u201d), Gorillaz<\/a> (\u201cThe Shadowy Light\u201d from The Mountain<\/em><\/a>), and Britpop-era band Cornershop<\/a>, whose hit \u201cBrimful of Asha<\/a>\u201d is dedicated to Bhosle.<\/p>\n Her career spanned genres as well as musical eras, with sidelines in North Indian classical music, Hindu devotionals, folk, pop, and new age; her full catalog encompasses more than 12,000 songs, a feat recorded in the Guinness World Records<\/a> in 2011 (when the tally stood at 11,000). She was twice nominated for Grammys\u2014both times in world music categories, for albums with Ali Akbar Khan (Legacy<\/em>) and Kronos Quartet (You\u2019ve Stolen My Heart\u2014Songs From R.D. Burman\u2019s Bollywood<\/em>).<\/p>\n After appearing on the Gorillaz track, which reflects on mortality, Bhosle said in a statement<\/a> that, in the afterlife, she would \u201cattain moksha (ultimate freedom) wherein I shall become one of the thousands of sounds floating all around us. If you put some of them together, they form a beautiful tune.\u201d On Monday (April 13), thousands gathered to honor Bhosle at Mumbai\u2019s Shivaji Park, in a ceremony that featured a gun salute and an impromptu crowd rendition of her classic song \u201cAbhi Na Jao Chhod Kar.\u201d<\/p>\n