Kumar Sanu

Multiple-award-winning Indian singer and composer Kumar Sanu, nicknamed King of Melody, has sung literally thousands of Bollywood songs. ∙ The soundtrack for the 1990 romance Aashiqui, which featured Sanu on almost every song, sold 20 million copies and became the best-selling Bollywood album ever. ∙ In 1990, he won the first of five consecutive Filmfare Awards—the Hindi movie industry’s most prestigious honor—for Best Male Playback Singer. ∙ One of the most popular Indian singers of the ’90s, Sanu set a Guinness World Record in 1993 for the most songs recorded in a single day—28. ∙ In 2001, then-Dayton, Ohio, mayor Michael R. Turner declared March 31 to be Kumar Sanu Day. ∙ The government of India honored him with the Padma Shri civilian award in 2009 for his work in the country’s film and music industries. ∙ Sanu sang the 2017 theme song for the coming-of-age romantic drama Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai, in which he also had a cameo.