Kishore Kumar was born in a Bengali family in a small place known as Khandwa. This place is situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh. He was youngest among his siblings with two elder brothers and a sister (Sati Devi). Both of his elder brothers ventured into acting and established their names in a big way. The eldest one, Ashok Kumar is known for giving numerous hits. Right from his childhood, he was interested in becoming a playback singer. To follow his dreams, he too soon shifted to Mumbai and started living with his brothers.

 

Kishore Kumar had no formal training in music. Knowing that, it feels even more wonderful to see his repertoire. He was a great mimic and his favorite singer was K L Saigal. He always imitated Saigal with perfection. He took his own sweet time to develop his natural style of singing. He continued trying for work and also started to refine his voice. He is credited to give a style known as ‘Yodeling’ which was his signature style. Yodeling is basically an Austrian style which he perfected to the hilt and used it in his various hits. A complete natural, he kept on experimenting with new voices and often non-sensical terms in his songs.

 

His famous hit songs belong to films like, Sharabi, Aaradhana, Kinara, Kasme Vaade, Don, Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, Dream Girl, Anurodh, Mr. Natwarlal, Gol Maal, Dostana, Manzil, Padosan, Shalimar, Khatta Meetha, Ghar, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Dilli Ka Thug etc. His combination with Rajesh Khanna and R D Burman is legendary. He gave the maximum hits for these two. He also produced several hits for Dev Anand and Amitabh Bachchan. He won several awards for his remarkable singing. On October 13th 1987, Kishore Kumar suffered a major heart attack and breathed his last. It was a great loss for all of India. But, his eternal songs will keep on lingering in our mind and hearts for many lifetimes.