Music is the soul to life. Music has the power to make one want to get up and dance, or can aid someone unwind and be stress-free. This week, we present to you 10 highest earning musicians from India who have captivated us with their music.
1. NORAH JONES - $46 million
Geetali Norah Jones Shankar, known as Norah Jones was born on 30th March 1979, in New York City. She is the daughter of the legendary Indian musician, Ravi Shankar. She is a Jazz singer, songwriter and musician.
Norah Jones was raised by her mother, Sue Jones in Grapevine, Texas. She went on to study Jazz Piano at the University of North Texas. Norah moved to New York in 1999 after become inspired by local musicians to writer her own songs.
In 2002, Norah Jones launched her solo music career, releasing her debut album, Come Away With Me, a mix of country music and pop with elements of Jazz. The album was a critical and commercial success; it became a certified diamond album, selling over 26 million copies. Come Away With Me earner her 5 Grammy awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist.
Some of Norah's successful albums include Feels Like Home (2004) and Little Broken Hearts (2012). She has won several awards, including 9 Grammy Awards and was also 60th on Billboard magazine's artist of the 2000-2009 decade chart, and was also named as the Top Jazz Artist of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard as well. She has sold over 50 million albums globally.
2. A R RAHMAN - $8 million
Allah Rakha Rahman, born as A. S. Dileep Kumar on 6th January 1966, in Madras, now known as Chennai. His debuted as a music director in 1992 for the film Roja. Since then, there has been no looking back for him.
At the age of 4, Rahman started to learn how to play the piano and at the age of 11, he joined Indian composer, Ilayaraja's troupe as a keyboard player.
Rahman has also accompanied the great tabla maestro, Zakir Hussain on a few world tours. He won a scholarship at the Trinity College of Music at Oxford University, where he studied Western Classical Music and obtained a degree in Music.
Some of his notable films are Bombay (1995), Rangeela (1995), Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India (2001) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008), among others. For Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman went on to win two Academy Awards (Oscar), a BAFTA, a Golden Globe Award and two Grammy awards, making the Hollywood film industry sit up and take notice of his striking talent.
A R Rahman has received many accolades and appreciations during his career as a music director. He has won several awards, including 15 Filmfare Awards and 14 Filmfare Awards from the South Indian film Industry.
3. ARIJIT SINGH - $5.6 million
Arijit Singh is the new current favourite amongst Bollywood music lovers. His soulful voice seems to have struck a chord with people.
Arijit Singh was born on 25th April 1987, in West Bengal, India. In 2005, he took part in the singing reality show, Fame Gurukul (the Indian version of Fame Academy) and came 6th in the competition. However, he went on to take part and win another singing reality show called 10 Ke 10 Le Gaye Dil.
Consequently, Arijit Singh worked as an assistant music programmer with notable music directors Pritam, Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy, Vishal- Shekhar and Mithoon.
Arijit Singh went on to sing many songs, but it was not until 2013 that he gained instant and extreme popularity for the song Tum Hi Ho, from the film, Aashiqui 2. He won several awards for this song and received a lot of opportunities to sing for big filmmakers.
Some of Arijit Singh's remarkable songs include Raabta (2012), Muskuraane (2014) and Sooraj Dooba Hai (2015).
4. MIKA SINGH - $5 million
Mika Singh, one of the most controversial singers of current times. Love him or hate him, but you certainly can't ignore him. He is also the younger brother of the Punjabi legendary singer, Daler Mehndi.
Mika Singh, born as Amrik Singh on 10th June 1977 is known for giving Punjabi music a distinct identity. He was also bestowed with a title of a “Powerhouse Entertainer”.
At the age of 8, Mika Singh started to play the tabla. At the age of 12, he started learning how to play the harmonium and at the age of 14, he started to play the guitar as well.
Mika Singh released his first album, Saawan Mein lag Gayi Aag (1998) when he was 21 years old. After the success of his debut album, he released numerous other successful albums like Gabru (2001)and Ishq Brandy (2000).
Some of Mika Singh's popular Bollywood songs include Jumme Ki Raat (2014), Gandi Baat (2013) and Mauja Hi Mauja (2007).
5. SONU NIGAM AND YO YO HONEY SINGH - $4 million
Who would have thought that Sonu Nigam and Yo Yo Honey Singh's name would be taken in the same breath?
Sonu Nigam
Sonu Nigam is one of the most versatile Bollywood singers with many hit numbers to his name.
Nigam started his career in playback singing in the early nineties. After a period of struggle, he received his first break with the film Aaja Meri Jaan (1993) and since then, there has been no looking back for him. He was also a host of a musical show called Sa Re Ga Ma.
He has been rewarded with several awards, including two Filmfare Awards for Saathiya (2002) and Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003).
Yo Yo Honey Singh
Yo Yo Honey Singh (Hirdesh Singh) was born on 15th March 1983, Hoshiarpur, Punjab.
Honey Singh began his music career in 2006 and at the same time, he studied music at Trinity College, London. In the same year, he released his first single, Glassy, for which he won the ETC Punjabi award for Best Sound Design.
Controversies have revolved around him for the lyrics he uses in his songs. Many complaints have been filed against him for his allegedly vulgar and misogynist lyrics.
His music and rapping has been very successful in Bollywood movies, with children and the Indian youth swooning to his tunes. Some Bollywood successes include Lungi Dance (2013), Party All Night (2013) and Sunny Sunny (2014).
7. SHREYA GHOSHAL - $2.45 million
Shreya Ghoshal was born on 12th March 1984, in West Bengal. At the age of 4, she started learning music, mainly Bengali songs from her mother. From the age of 6, she started to receive formal training in Hindustani Classical Music.
As a child and teenager, Shreya Ghoshal took part in many musical competition and would end up being victorious most of the times.
After winning many competitions, she went on to record songs in many Indian regional languages. In 2000, she was selected by director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and music director, Ismail Darbar for the playback of the character Paro, played by Aishwarya Rai in the film, Devdas. In 2002, she was officially launched as a playback singer with the release of Devdas.
Devdas gave Ghoshal instant recognition. She garnered many accolades and received many singing opportunities where she further gained more popularity.
She has won several awards, including four National Awards, conferred by the President of India.
8. VISHAL-SHEKHAR - $2.4 million
This musical due are as different as chalk and cheese. But when they come together to make music, they are explosive!
Vishal and Shekhar created music for the film, Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (1999) separately. After that, they collaborated with Jhankaar Beats (2003), for which they received several awards and recognition, especially as the music played homage to the legendary Late R.D. Burman.
They have created many successful film albums, such as Dus (2005), Om Shanti Om (2007), Anjaana Anjaani (2010) and The Dirty Picture (2011).
The music of Musafir (2003) did extremely well with the youth and at Indian clubs as the duo fused techno music with indian sounds.
The duo have received many awards and have also been judges on music reality shows in India.
9. SUNIDHI CHAUHAN - $2.1 million
The vivacious Sunidhi Chauhan is one of the most versatile female singers in Bollywood. When one thinks of her, the songs Beedi (2006) and Sheila Ki Jawaani (2010) spring to mind. She was awarded by the Filmfare awards for these songs. However, she has also sung soothing numbers, like Bhaage Re Mann from the film Chameli (2003).
Sunidhi Chauhan, born as Nidhi Chauhan on 14th August 1983, in New Delhi. She gave her first performance at the age of 4, at a local temple in Delhi.
In 1996, she won the televised music contest, Meri Awaaz Suno and bagged the prize of recording an album. She also began her playback career in the same year, with the film, Shastra. By the age of 19, she had recorded 350 songs.
It was not until 1999 when she received recognition as an upcoming playback singer, for the film, Mast.
10. SHANKAR-EHSAAN-LOY $2 million
What do you get when you mix Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa together? You get Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy and phenomenal music.
Together, Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy have given some amazing soundtracks, such as Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) and Bunty Aur Babli (2005). They won the Filmfare award for Best Music for these films as well.
Shankar had an engineering career and used to freelance as a singer, singing mostly for jingles. Ehsaan used to make music for jingles, while Loy used to write before his transition into music. It was director, Mukul Anand who got them all together for the music of his film, Dus, which did not release due to Anand's untimely death. But it formed a strong musical trio team, which still continues to go strong.
