Usha Uthup
| Usha Uthup | |
|---|---|
Usha Uthup at Toshali National Crafts Mela, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 2012
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Usha Vaidyanath Someshwar Sami |
| Also known as | Didi |
| Born |
7 November 1947 Mumbai, India |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, playback singer |
| Instruments | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Website | Official website |
Usha Uthup (born 7 November 1947) is an Indian pop, jazz and playback singer who sang songs in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.Darling, which she recorded with Rekha Bhardwaj for the film 7 Khoon Maaf, won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 2012.
Usha was born in Mumbai. Her father was Vaidyanath Someshwar Sami who hailed from Madras (now Chennai), in Tamil Nadu in 1947.
She studied at St. Agnes High School (Clare Road,Byculla). When she was in school she was thrown out of music class because she didn't fit in with a voice like hers. But her music teacher recognised that she had some music in her and would give her clappers or triangles to play. Even though she was not formally trained in music, she grew up in an atmosphere of music. Her parents used to listen to a wide range from Western classical to Hindustani and Carnatic including Kishori Amonkar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan on radio and she used to join them. She used to enjoy listening to Radio Ceylon.
Her next door neighbour was S.M.A. Pathan, who was then the deputy commissioner of police. His daughter, Jamila, influenced Usha to learn Hindi and take up Indian classical music. This fusion approach helped her to pioneer her unique brand of Indian pop in the 1970s. She is married to Mr Jani Uthup from Kottayam, Kerala.
She is presently a resident of Kolkata, West Bengal.
Her first public singing occurred when she was nine. Her sisters who were already exploring a music career, took her to the most popular radio announcer in India that time called Ameen Sayani who gave her an opportunity to sing on the Ovaltine Music Hour in Radio Ceylon. She sang a number called "Mockingbird Hill". After that, several appearances followed through her teenage years.
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