Legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar, died on Sunday morning in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital after staying in the hospital for nearly a month. She was 92. The singer breathed her last at 8:12 am. She was admitted to the Mumbai hospital in early January this year, after testing positive for Covid-19 and also diagnosed with pneumonia.
On January 27, her official Twitter handle was updated with a statement that read, “Lata didi continues to be in ICU at Breach Candy hospital, Mumbai under treatment. She has been given a TRIAL of extubation (off the invasive Ventilator) this morning. Presently, she is showing signs of improvement but will remain under observation of the team of doctors headed by Dr Pratit Samdani. We thank each one for your prayers and good wishes.”
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Mangeshkar was hospitalised in early January after testing positive for Covid-19 and being diagnosed with pneumonia. She was hospitalised to the intensive care unit due to moderate symptoms. After showing minor indications of progress, the singer was removed off the ventilator around January 28.
Born in 1929 as Hema Mangeshkar, she was the eldest daughter of Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, a Marathi and Konkani musician and his wife Shevanti. She was the elder sister to Meena Khadikar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar, and Hridaynath Mangeshkar. Lata Mangeshkar had recorded songs in over a thousand Indian films and had sung songs in over thirty-six Indian and foreign languages. Not just that, she even gave music to many films, and also produced quite a number of films.
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Having begun her music career in the 1940s, she has been singing for movies and varied albums even till a few years ago. There was hardly any award that Lata Mangeshkar wasn’t conferred with. The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed upon her in 1989 by the Government of India. She won the Padma Bhushan in 1969, the Padma Vibhushan in 1999, and in 2001, in recognition of her contributions to the nation, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. She is only the second vocalist, after MS Subbulakshmi, to receive this honour. In 1997, she was awarded the Maharashtra Bhushan. Internationally, France conferred on her its highest civilian award, the Officer Of The Legion Of Honour, in 2007.
Lata Mangeshkar was the recipient of three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, and many more. In 1974, she became the first Indian to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
Lata Mangeshkar was not just the voice of India, but she was the voice of the millennium for the world. As the legendary actor, Dilip Kumar once said, “Lata Mangeshkar ki awaaz kudrat ki takhleek ka ek karishma hain”, meaning "Lata Mangeshkar's voice is a miracle of God".
