Anuradha Paudwal

Anuradha Paudwal (born 27 October 1954) is an Indian playback singer and politician who works predominantly in Hindi cinema and Odia cinema. She is considered as one of the greatest and most popular Bhajan singer of all time and also as one of the most successful playback singers of Bollywood. The recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, four Filmfare Awards (winning consecutively during 1990–92), six Maharashtra State Film Awards and two Odisha State Film Awards, she has been honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian honour for her contribution in the field of arts. Her contribution in Indian devotional music and Bollywood Industry gained her the honorific titles such as "Bhajan Queen", "Melody Queen, and "The Eternal voice of devotion". She was honoured with honorary degree of D.Litt. by D Y Patil University, the second singer to receive this degree after Lata Mangeshkar. She is engaged in social work and had a foundation named Suryodaya Foundation. In her career spanning over five decades Paudwal has recorded more than 9,000 songs for more than 550 movies and more than 1,500 bhajans in several languages including Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Sanskrit, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Assamese, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Brajbhasha, Nepali and Maithili. She is ranked NO. 26 in Youtube's Music Charts and Insights list of top global artist as of 6 February 2025. She has been on chart since last 237 weeks. She has been awarded a doctorate in music by DY Patil University, felicitated by the house of commons in England and awarded the Cultural ambassador to Indian devotional by the United Nations in New York City. She started her political career by joining Bharatiya Janata Party on 16 March 2024 ahead of 2024 Indian general election.