LONDON: Veteran singer Asha Bhosle has been declared the greatest Bollywood playback artist of all times by the UK based newspaper.
The 81-year-old singer beat off her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar in a first of its kind list that takes into account factors including number of songs, honours, international impact, versatility, fan base and popularity amongst fellow music industry professionals. The singer was surprised with the news of her topping the list.
“I thought being called the greatest was the prerogative of boxer Muhammad Ali. I thank Eastern Eye and everyone for tolerating me all these years,” Asha said.
Whilst Lata Mangeshkar came second in the list of talented singers, Mohd Rafi came third and Kishore Kumar was fourth. Other names who featured in the top 20 included Mukesh (5), current Bollywood music queen Shreya Ghoshal (7), Geeta Dutt (10), Sonu Nigam (14), Kumar Sanu (17) and Kavita Krishnamurthy (19).