Lata Mangeshkar, the “Nightingale of India,” passed away Sunday at the age of 92.
The singer, who gave her voice to Indian movies for more than 70 years, was honored at a state funeral Sunday.
Dr. Pratit Samdani, Mangeshkar’s doctor, told reporters outside Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, “Lata Di died at 8:12 a.m. due to multi-organ failure after over 28 days of Covid-19 diagnosis.”
Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, paid his respects to Mangeshkar at the funeral, according to a post published from his verified Twitter account. He said he was “anguished beyond words.”
“The kind and caring Lata Didi (sister) has left us,” he tweeted. “She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people.”
The Indian government ordered two days of national mourning for the late singer.
Mangeshkar was a playback singer for numerous Indian movies. From the age of 5, she began training with her father in classical Indian music. Her father, Deenanath Mangeshkar, was an accomplished classical singer and stage actor.
She performed in public for the first time when she was just 9 years old and recorded her first song at the age of 13, according to CNN. A month after she recorded her first song, her father died. Left to support four younger siblings and her mother, Mangeshkar began to work in the Indian film industry.
In 1999, Mangeshkar was awarded the Padma Vibushan, the second-highest civilian award in India. And in 2001, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honor in India.
The Queen of Melody performed in over five languages for different movie industries within India. She lent her voice to over 1,300 movies and sang over 25,000 songs. Her music has also been used in Hollywood films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Life of Pi, Lion, and The Hundred-Foot Journey.
Over the past two decades, Mangeshkar had slowly reduced her workload to just a couple of movies a year, according to CNN. Preferring to stay out of the limelight, she rarely spoke about her personal life.
On January 8, 2022, Mangeshkar tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms. She was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital. She remained in the ICU with signs of “marginal improvement” in her health.
Her doctors had taken her off the ventilator on January 28 after her health “improved marginally.” However, she was back on the ventilator on February 5 after her health deteriorated. She died on February 6, 2022, from multiple organ failure after undergoing 28 days of treatment for pneumonia and COVID.
