Singer Abida Parveen posted a video on Instagram on Thursday night, remembering Asha Bhosle, the legendary Indian singer who passed away on Sunday.
Parveen said that she did not have words to describe Bhosle’s stature. “God gave her talent, and she shared it with people,” she said, calling the chance to hear her music a gift the whole world shared.
The two legends from the opposites of the border had a personal connection. Parveen had wanted to meet Bhosle and her late sister Lata Mangeshkar for years, and when she finally travelled to India, she got the chance.
They later shared the stage as judges on the reality music show Sur Kshetra in 2012, alongside Bangladeshi singer Runa Laila.
Parveen spoke at length about Bhosle’s influence on Indian music.
“She has left behind something so great that every Indian singer is copying her. That’s a big deal,” she said. On every music show, she noted, singers young and old open with Bhosle’s songs and try to master her technique, something none of them have managed yet.
She also recalled what Mangeshkar once said about her sister.
“Didi also said Asha was versatile,” Parveen said, pointing to a demanding song Bhosle recorded with Ghulam Ali that people in musical circles still talk about today.
“She was a pillar of India’s film industry as well as its shade,” Parveen stated, adding that no words were enough to describe her.
Her Instagram caption read, “Our deepest, most sincere condolences to Asha Bhosle Taai and her family. No words can adequately describe who we’ve lost, and what a profound loss this is, not just for India or Pakistan, but for music as a whole. Asha Ji, Lata Ji, and their family who we have remained extremely close to from our time in India, have been in our prayers constantly through this time. Lots of love and prayers to the entire Mangeshkar family and Asha Bhosle Ji’s fans across the world.”
Bhosle, who was born on September 8, 1933, in Sangli, Maharashtra, began her singing career at the age of ten and went on to record over 12,000 songs across more than 20 languages.
The Guinness Book of World Records recognised her in 2011 as the most recorded artist in music history, and the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. She died at the age of 92 years.
