Surinder Kaur

Surinder Kaur (25 November 1929 – 14 June 2006) was an Indian singer. While she mainly sang Punjabi folk songs, where she is credited for pioneering and popularizing the genre, she also recorded songs as a playback singer for Hindi films between 1948 and 1952. For her contributions to Punjabi music, she earned the sobriquet Nightingale of Punjab, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1984, and the Padma Shri in 2006. In a career spanning nearly six decades, her music included Punjabi Sufi Kafis of Bulleh Shah and verses by contemporary poets like Nand Lal Noorpuri, Amrita Pritam, Mohan Singh and Shiv Kumar Batalvi. Surinder Kaur was born to a Punjabi Sikh family in Lahore, the capital of the Punjab in British India. She was the sister of Parkash Kaur, a noted Punjabi singer. Surinder Kaur made her professional debut with a live performance on Lahore Radio in August 1943, and the following year on 31 August 1943, she and her elder sister, Parkash Kaur cut their first duet for the HMV label on shellac records. Following the Partition of India in 1947, Surinder Kaur and her parents relocated to Ghaziabad, Delhi. Later she started a career as a playback singer in Hindi film industry in Bombay, introduced by music director, Ghulam Haider. Under him she sang three songs in the 1948 film Shaheed, including "Badnam Na Ho Jaye Mohabbat Ka Fasaana", "Aanaa Hai To Aajaao" and "Taqdeer Ki Aandhi". A Doordarshan documentary titled, Punjab Di Koyal (Nightingale of Punjab), on the life and works of Surinder Kaur was released in 2006. It later won the Doordarshan National Award.