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Lata Mangeshkar Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 6, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth28 September 1929

Age92 (at time of death)

BirthplaceIndore, Indore State, Central India Agency, British India

ProfessionPlayback Singer, Music Composer (occasional), Film Producer (occasional)

NationalityIndian

Marital statusUnmarried

FamilyParents: Deenanath Mangeshkar and Shevanti Mangeshkar; Siblings: Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Meena Khadikar

Lata Mangeshkar Biography

Lata Mangeshkar was one of India's most celebrated playback singers, whose career spanned more than seven decades. Revered as the 'Nightingale of India' or

Early life and background
Lata Mangeshkar was born on 28 September 1929 in Indore, then part of the Indore State in British India. She was the daughter of Deenanath Mangeshkar, a Marathi theatre actor, musician and vocalist, and Shevanti Mangeshkar. Her family worshipped the Mangeshi deity, and the family belonged to the Goud Saraswat Brahmin community. Lata received little formal schooling; accounts indicate she did not attend school beyond a single day and that much of her early learning took place at home with tutors. Music was a central part of her upbringing: her father and a number of teachers, including Ustad Amanat Ali Khan and Anil Biswas, guided her training.

Career
Lata Mangeshkar established herself as a dominant voice in Indian cinema, building a career as a playback singer that began in the early 1940s. Her first recorded song was made when she was a young teenager for a Marathi film, and her credited debut as a playback singer in Marathi films came in 1943. Over the decades she recorded songs in many Indian languages — Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam (a single recorded song), Meitei, Odia, Punjabi, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu and Bhojpuri — and also worked occasionally as a music director, composer and film producer.

She acted early in her career in a Marathi film in 1943, and later took on roles behind the camera as music director for a Marathi film in 1960 and as a producer on Marathi and Hindi titles in the 1950s. Her recorded output included film songs and non-film recordings; her final film song credit came in 2015. She also recorded devotional and special-occasion pieces later in life, including a rendition of the Gayatri Mantra in 2018 and a patriotic non-film song released in 2019.

Throughout her career she received widespread recognition from the Indian film and cultural establishment. National honors included multiple National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer, and civilian awards from the Government of India such as the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. She was also a recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. State-level honours from Maharashtra and international recognitions, including a French Legion of Honour award, further marked her long public career.

Public profile
Lata Mangeshkar was widely known by honorifics such as the Nightingale of India and the Queen of Melody. She remained unmarried and had no children. Her siblings included Hridaynath Mangeshkar and three younger sisters — Usha Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Meena Khadikar — several of whom pursued musical careers. She named a number of musicians, composers and singers among her influences and favourites, and she was known to enjoy cooking, photography and watching cricket. She expressed no formal affiliation with political parties and, when invited to public office, indicated she preferred to remain independent.

Her career also attracted controversies over the years, ranging from disputes about royalties and recording credits to public disagreements with peers and debates about her influence in the industry. Public discussions of recordings counts and claims about the number of songs she sang have appeared in record-keeping bodies and in commentary from fellow artists.

Later years and death
Lata Mangeshkar continued to record and release music into her late eighties. One notable late recording was a devotional rendition made for a private wedding in 2018; another non-film patriotic song appeared in 2019. Her last film recording appeared in 2015, and a previously recorded song from the 1990s was released publicly on YouTube in 2021.

She passed away on 6 February 2022 at the age of 92 at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. Her death was reported as resulting from complications related to COVID-19 and multiple organ failure. She was cremated at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.

Latest updates
At the time of her death, reports noted ongoing interest in her recorded legacy, the release of archival or previously recorded songs on digital platforms, and the continued celebration of her awards and honours by the music and film community.
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Recent Work

Gayatri Mantra (non-film)

Devotional rendition recorded in 2018 for a private wedding

2018
Saugandh Mujhe Is Mitti Ki (non-film)

Patriotic tribute to the Indian Army released in 2019

2019
"Jeena kya hai, jaana maine" (film)

Last film song recorded for Dunno Y2... Life Is a Moment

2015
'Theek Nahi Lagta' (released 2021)

Song written by Gulzar and recorded in the 1990s, released on YouTube in 2021

2021
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Career Highlights

  1. Extensive playback singing career spanning from the 1940s into the 21st century
  2. Multiple National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer
  3. Recipient of major civilian honours including Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and the Bharat Ratna
  4. Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient
  5. Recorded in more than a dozen Indian languages
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Lata Mangeshkar born?

28 September 1929

What is Lata Mangeshkar known for?

Playback Singer, Music Composer (occasional), Film Producer (occasional)

What is Lata Mangeshkar’s marital status?

Unmarried