Surinder Kaur
| Surinder Kaur | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Surinder Kaur |
| Also known as | Nightingale of Punjab |
| Born | 25 November 1929 |
| Origin | Lahore, British India |
| Died | 14 June 2006 (aged 76) New Jersey, United States |
| Genres | Folk, Filmi |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, Playback singing |
| Years active | 1943–2006 |
| Associated acts | Parkash Kaur (sister), Dolly Guleria (daughter) |
Surinder Kaur (25 November 1929 – 14 June 2006) was a Punjabi singer-songwriter. She sang mainly Punjabi folk songs, where she is credited for pioneering and popularising the genre and later was known as the 'Nightingale of Punjab'. She also sang songs in some Hindi movies as playback singer, between 1948 and 1952.
In an illustrious career spanning nearly six decades, her repertoire included Punjabi Sufi Kafis of Bulleh Shah and verses by contemporary poets like Nand Lal Noorpuri, Amrita Pritam, Mohan Singh and Shiv Kumar Batalvi giving memorable songs like, maavan 'te dheean, jutti kasuri paireen na poori, madhaniyan, ehna akhiyan 'ch pavan kiven kalra and ghaman di raat lammi hai jan mere geet lamme ne. In time her wedding songs, most notably lathe di chadar, suhe ve cheere waleya and kaala doria, became an indelible part of Punjabi culture.
Surinder Kaur was born in 1929 in Lahore, back then part of British India, in a Punjabi-Sikh family. She was the sister of Parkash Kaur and the mother of Dolly Guleria, both noted Punjabi singers. She had three daughters of which Dolly is the eldest.
Surinder Kaur made her professional debut with a live performance on Lahore Radio in August 1943, and the following year on 31 August 1943, she and her elder sister, Parkash Kaur cut their first duet, "maavan 'te dheean ral baithian", for the HMV label, emerging as superstars across the Indian subcontinent.
Following the Partition of India in 1947, Kaur and her parents relocated to Ghaziabad, Delhi. In 1948, she married Professor Joginder Singh Sodhi, a lecturer in Punjabi literature at Delhi University. Recognising her talent, Kaur's husband became her support system, and soon she started a career as a playback singer in Hindi film industry in Bombay, introduced by music director, Ghulam Haider. Under him she sang three songs in the 1948 film Shaheed, including Badnam Na Ho Jaye Mohabbat Ka Fasaana, Aanaa hai tho aajaao and Taqdeer ki aandhi…hum kahaan aur thum kahaan. Her true interest however lay in stage performances and reviving Punjabi folk songs, and she eventually moved back to Delhi in 1952.
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