Name: Sonu Nigam
Nickname: Golden boy of indipop
Date of Birth: 30 July 1973
Sign: Leo
City: Faridabad, Haryana
Country: India
Father: Agam Kumar Nigam
Siblings: two younger sisters
Spouse: Madhurima Mishra
Mini Biography:

Sonu Nigam was born on the 30th of July in Faridabad ,Haryana. The family soon moved to Delhi where the singer spent most of his formative years. His father Agam Kumar’s passion for music was soon imbibed by Sonu in his early years and he soon began training under him.He studied only till the 12th standard in Delhi and coming to Mumbai he decided on a correspondence graduate program .
Life was not smooth for the aspiring singer. To support himself he started taking on bit roles in movies. Many people do not know this but Sonu Nigam acted as a child artiste in films like Kaamchor, Ustadi Ustad Se, Hum Se Hai Zamana, Taqdeer and Betaab. Along with his father he also started singing in birthdays and marriage ceremonies in Delhi.


Sonu’s father is Agam Kumar, a very popular stage singer in the provincial circuit. Young Sonu debuted on stage at the age of three, with a rousing rendition of ‘Kya Hua Tera Vada’ and began accompanying his father’s troupe at wedding parties and festivals. He began competing in music competitions. After bagging every possible singing competition at the junior level, there came a point when Sonu was not permitted to compete in not only his own category, but the senior categories as well! The organizers then had to resort to calling him as chief guest! He moved to Mumbai at the age of 18 but stopped giving stage performances here, as his father felt this would affect his future career.





He recorded his first song for the film Aaja Meri Jaan courtesy Usha Khanna who introduced him to composer Amar Utpal. But he was clearly told by the composer that he would keep the song only if he found it good enough. However fate had something else in store for Sonu as the song got dubbed by SP Balasubramaniam. Sonu was left cursing his luck as two of his very good songs were being sung by another singer and his songs were not even being heard. He had sung five songs in the film out of which the first four were rejected but the fifth song was the one that that Gulshan Kumar heard and summoned him. The rest as they say is history. The song that really made Sonu Nigam famous was ‘Accha Sila Diya Tune Mere Pyar Ka’ for the film Bewafa Sanam.


The young singer started receiving many offers after ‘Accha Sila Diya’ became a hit. Apart from many film and pop album offers, he also got what he considers to be an opportunity of a lifetime and that was to host the musical show ‘TVS Sa Re Ga Ma’. The show not only gave him the opportunity to interact with some of India’s topmost exponents of music but it also brought him face to face with th 930 e audience many of whom soon became his fans. Today he has to his credit more than 200 episodes of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’.

Sonu Nigam arrived onto the Indi Pop scene with his album Sapnon Ki Baat for T-Series. His four-year association with the company snapped as a result of bad artiste management on the part of T-Series. He went on to do another album with T-Series titled Deewana (pop) which was a mindblowing success.
His first album with his new company Kismat was an astounding success, going platinum in sales. The success of the album also prompted the company to sign him again for a Bhajan album titled Sanskaar. His next album with the company is Mausam which also did fairly well. The album had been conceived and supervised by Sonu himself while Ravi Pawar composed the songs and Ajay Jhingran and Shahab Allahbadi have written the lyrics. Sonu feels that Mausam is for those people who want something new in the world of Indi Pop.His stint with Magnasound was brief and Sonu returned back to the T – Series fold with another couple of albums, Jaan and the latest Yaad. The team of Nikhil – Vinay, Bhushan Kumar and Faiz Anwar seem to be running another hit unit in the process of churning out hits once every six months.
He did get one film offer at this time but though he recorded five songs, they were all ultimately used as dubbing exercises for more established stars. However, Gulshan Kumar of T-Series heard these numbers and with Bewafa Sanam and ‘Accha Sila Diya’, Sonu Nigam began to be recognized. Offers poured in and around this time, Zee TV offered him the job of anchoring SaReGaMa, a program that went on to become a benchmark for musical programs ever after. Sonu got to interact with the big names in music, both commercial and classical.

Films like Border and Taal took him to the top of the charts, as did Pukar and Refugee. Though several directors would have liked him to star in their movies too, this doesn’t seem to interest Sonu Nigam, though he seems to possess that star-quality – he prefers to let his voice take center-stage.With assignments like Pyar Tune Kya Kiya showcasing his tremendous range and talent, Sonu Nigam’s career has just begun to take off. He remains endearingly simple and enjoys having his home done up in various amusing animal themes.


Today Sonu Nigam has to keep switching between the different roles of a playback singer, an actor and a pop singer.He is one of the few singers to have made it big both in films and on the Indi-Pop circuit. His velvety voice has lent magic to some great chart-toppers – ‘Sandese Aate Hain’, ‘Khamoshiyan Gungunane Lage’ , ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ and that zany number ‘O Mama Mama’ . He hosted SaReGaMa, television’s top-rated music program for five years before branching out to try his luck in films. Sonu Nigam is good-looking enough to be in front of the camera and acted in a ecent film featuring him as hero ‘Love in Nepal’.


Awards:
* 2006, Bollywood Music and Fashion Awards, Best Male Playback Singer for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Title Track.
* 2005, Swaralaya Yesudas Award, for his outstanding performance in Music.
* 2005, MTV Immies – Best Pop Album, for his self-composed album titled “Chanda Ki Doli”.
* 2005, Star Screen Award Best Male Playback, for the song “Dheere Jalna”, from the film “Paheli”
* 2005, Indian Television Award Best Singer for Miliee Title Track.
* 2005, Anadolok Award for “Chanda Ki Doli” album.
* 2005, Lion Gold’s Award for the song Main Hoon Na from the film “Main Hoon Na”
* 2005, Teachers’ Achievement Award
* 2005, Style Icon, MTV Style Awards.
* 2004, MTV Immies – Best Male Singer, for the song “Main Hoon Na”, from the film “Main Hoon Na”
* 2004, National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer, for the song “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho
* 2004, IIFA Best Male Playback Award, for the song “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho
* 2004, Bollywood Music Award for Best Male Playback Singer for “Kal Ho Na Ho” from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho
* 2004, Apsara Film Producers’ Guild Award for Best Male Playback Singer for “Kal Ho Na Ho” from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho
* 2003, Filmfare Best Male Playback Award, for the song “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, from the film Kal Ho Naa Ho”.
* 2003, Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer- Male, for the song “Saathiya”, from the film “Saathiya”
* 2003, IIFA Best Male Playback Award, for the song “Saathiya”, from the film “Saathiya”
* 2003, MTV Immies – Best Male Singer, for the song “Saathiya” from the film “Saathiya”.
* 2003, Bollywood Music Award fpr Best Male Playback Singer for the song “Saathiya” from the film “Saathiya”
* 2003, Style Icon, MTV Style Awards.
* 2002, Filmfare Best Male Playback Award, for the song “Saathiya”, from the film Saathiya.
* 2002, Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer- Male, for the song “Suraj Hua Maddham”, from the film “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”
* 2002, IIFA Best Male Playback Award, for the song “Suraj Hua Maddham”, from the film “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”
* 2002, Bollywood Music Award for Best Pop Singer for the album “Yaad”
* 2001, Star Screen Award Best Male Playback, for the song “Tanhayee”, from the film “Dil Chahta Hai”
* 1998, Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer- Male, for the song “Sandese Aate Hai”, from the film “Border”
* 1998, Star Screen Award for Best Male Pop Artist.
* 1997, Aashirwad Award for Best Male Singer for the song “Sandese Aate Hai”, from the film “Border”
* 1997, Sansui Viewers’ Choice Award for Best Male Singer for the song “Sandese Aate Hai”, from the film “Border”



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