MUMBAI — Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away Sunday at the age of 92. She died at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai where she was undergoing treatment for Covid.
She was admitted to a city hospital in early January this year, after she tested positive for Covid-19 and was also diagnosed with pneumonia.
She was admitted to the ICU with mild symptoms and was recovering slowly. She was taken off the ventilator, after she showed slight signs of improvement on January 28.
However, on February 5, her condition deteriorated and she was back on ventilator support.
She is lovingly referred to as the ‘Nightingale of India’.
She stepped into singing at the age of 13 and recorded her first song in 1942. In her career spanning seven decades, she has to her credit over 40,000 songs in different languages.
Lata Mangeshkar has been the voice behind popular tracks like ‘Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai’, ‘Raam Teri Ganga Maili’, ‘Ek Radha Ek Meera’ and ‘Didi Tera Devar Deewana’ to name a few.
Lata Mangeshkar was bestowed with the Padma Bhushan, third-highest civilian award in 1969, the Padma Vibhushan, second-highest civilian award in 1999 and the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna in 2001.
She was also conferred with France’s highest civilian award, ‘Officer de la Legion d’Honneur’ (Officer of the Legion of Honour) in 2009.
She was the oldest of the siblings, Meena Khadikar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar and Hridaynath Mangeshkar. — (Agencies)