NIGHTINGALE’S LAMP EXTINGUISHED
The playback singer, essentially the usage of a seasoned siren to dub the singing bits in a film, is commonplace in India, and Bollywood’s go-to for decades was Lata Mangeshkar, affectionately known as the “Nightingale of India”. The eldest child of theatre actor Deenanath Mangeshkar and sister of fellow playback singer Asha Bhosle, Mangeshkar entered Bollywood as an actress for financial reasons (early 40s Bollywood just didn’t have enough songs). Her first full song in a 1949 film was noticed enough to give her the fully musical career she desired. She was unstoppable from there, recording over a thousand songs that appeared in hundreds of movies and were sampled in more aughties pop/hip-hop tracks than you’d think. Her vast vocal range was highly praised, and was one of the biggest influences on Freddie Mercury. And her voice was important beyond singing, having fought to be paid on levels closer to her male counterparts.
A woman of diverse interests, she was fond of cars, cricket, and playing the slots in Vegas. And now her luck has crapped out, with a COVID diagnosis leading to her death at 92 and prompting nationwide mourning. Despite someone on the DeathList forums drolly (ahem) bringing much attention to her failing health in recent weeks, she was only a unique in the DDP as Asia theme team Dead Continent’s joker. A Lata points for them!
Lata Mangeshkar
28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022, aged 92
💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻, 🃏 = 18 POINTS