Music has always been a great part of our lives. And while India is a country full of languages, the music has also been an integral part of every language’s exposure. Music is a way of communication and people are not just limited to hear the music from any one language. Talking about Punjabi music, the songs are capable of lifting up anybody’s mood. They are full of energy and high beats and drums that makes the heart happy and joyful.
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Thankful to all those Punjabi singers whose contribution has now brought a revolution in the country’s music Industry. Almost half the country has their favorite Punjabi songs and singers. Let’s look at some of these great artists and the type of music they have given us.
- Gurdas Maan
Born in 1957 in Punjab, Gurdas Maan is a Punjabi singer, choreographer, songwriter and actor. He is one of the most remarkable singers of the Punjabi music industry. He gained national attention for his song ‘Dil da maamla hai’ in 1980. Since then he has been unstoppable with almost 34 albums and has written more than 300 songs. He also represents himself on YouTube to stay connected with his fans. He has also performed with Diljit Dosanjh in MTV coke studio India in the year 2013. Maan is the only Punjabi singer to get an award for Best Male playback singer at the 54th National Film Awards.
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TOP SONGS: DIL DA MAMLA HAI, MAMLA GADBAD HAI, BOOT POLISHAN
- Diljit Dosanjh
Dosanjh is a singer, entertainer and artist who works in both the Hindi and the Punjabi cinema. One of the leading artists in the Punjabi music industry was born in 1984. He also acts in many movies most of which are big commercial hits such as ‘Jatt and Juliet’, ‘Sardar Ji – 1&2’, Ambarsariya. These are some of the most successful Punjabi movies. Not only his acting but his singing also has worldwide followers. His voice is soothing and yet so full of energy and charm. His first Bollywood movie was ‘Udta Punjab’ in 2016 for which he won awards as well.
TOP SONGS: DO YOU KNOW, 5 TAARA, IK KUDI, RAAT DI GEDI
- Guru Randhawa
Gurusharanjot Singh Randhawa is an Indian singer, music composer and a song writer as well who has performed remarkably in the Punjabi, Indi pop and the bollywood music industry. Guru was a child with musical dreams and at the age of about 21 years he was already a famous Punjabi singer. He completed his graduation Indian institue of planning and management and later completed his masters in Business Administration all while continuing to learn and make music. His song ‘Suit Karda’ made a debut in the bollywood through the movie ‘Hindi Medium’. Guru has showcased his talent at various national and international ceremonies and has never failed in giving good music to his fans.
TOP SONGS: SUIT KARDA, PATOLA, LAHORE, SURMA SURMA
- Gippy Grewal
Rupinder Singh Grewal, more commonly known as Gippy Grewal was born and brought up in Ludhiana, Punjab. He is a famous actor, singer, director and producer in the Punjabi as well as the Hindi film Industry. He made his debut with the ablum ‘Chakk Lay’ produced by Amar Haldipur. He later released various hit albums including the ‘Phulkari 2’ in the year 2005. He has also acted and sung some very popular songs in the films produced by him. Gippy has won several awards for his great music and has also performed at 2014 Sandwell and Birmingham Mela.
TOP SONGS: ANGREJI BEAT, CAR NACHDI, FUEL
- Jenny Johal
Born in Jalandhar, Punjab in the year 1983, Jenny learned music at the age of 4 years from her guru Sardar Bhupinder Singh Ji. Her first encounter with singing was when she was just 4 years old and ang on the radio for the first time. This developed her love for singing that later made her follow her passion. She was always very eager to participate in singing competitions whenever she got the chance. Unlike some punjabi singers, she had to struggle for a brief period of time before her song became a hit but since then she has been unstoppable.
TOP SONGS: MASTAANI, RAKAAN, NAKHRA, YAARI JATT DI
- Ranjit Bawa
Ranjit singh Bawa is from Gurdaspur, Punjab. He lost his father when he was just 2 years old. So, he found comfort and guidance from his school master Mangal singh who had a huge father figure influence on him. He was the one to introduce ranjit to singing and encouraged him to pursue it. He got his name ‘Bawa’ when his voice was recognised for singing ‘Bol mitti deya Baweya’. Even after gaining popularity he had to struggle for 15 years until he made it to the big world of punjabi music.
TOP SONGS: JATT DI AKAL VECH KE, SADDI VAARI AUN DE, MITTI DA BAWA
- Jasmine Sandlas
The very famous singer, songwriter, and performer was born in Jalandhar in the year 1990. But USA was like a second home to her which is why we can see her asthetics influenced by the west coast music. In 2014, she made her bollywood playback debut with Honey singh in the movie ‘Kick’. She has persence on various platforms including the MTV show, Angel of words, and has been a presenter at TED talks as well.
TOP SONGS: ILLEGAL WEAPON, SIP SIP, VEERA, BADDAL
- Sunanda Sharma
Famous Punjabi singer Sunanda Sharma was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab in 1992. Even before she could choose singing, singing chose her. She went viral overnight after her friend put a video cover of her singing ‘sucha surma’. Soon she had offers from many music houses after which she released her first song ‘billi Ankh’ which was again another hit. She is appreciated not just for her singing but also for her expressions and style in her videos.
TOP SONGS: SANDAL, JAANI TERE NAA, PATAKE
- Sharry Mann
Surinder Singh Mann, popularly known as Sharry Mann was born in Mohali, Punjab in 1982. Despite having a civil engineering degree, the singer and writer chose his passion, singing. Mann would regularly post his singing videos online which led to his increased love for singing and provided him a career opportunity. He became a major hit overnight when his song ‘Yaar Anmulle’ came out in 2011. He also won the best album of the award for ‘Aate Din Chiri’ in 2012.
TOP SONGS: YAARI DA VASTA, DIL DA DIMAG, VADDA BAI
- Satinder Sartaj
The singer was born as Satinder Pal Singh Saini in Hoshiyarpur, Punjab. He is more inclined towards sufi and folk music. He also took up Sartaj as his pen name in his college days when he used to write poetry. He has an honors degree in music along with MPhil in singing and even a PHD in sufi singing from the Punjab University. People look up to his work whenever there are false interpretations about the punjabi music being related to just guns and alcohol.
TOP SONGS: BALCK PRINCE, SAI, NIKKI JEHI KUDI
- Miss Pooja
Popularly known as Miss Pooja, this punjabi singer’s real name is Gurinder Kaur Kainth and was born in Rajpura, Punjab. She has been a student and learning music since the age of 5 years old. She also taught music in school later before attaining fame at both national and international level. She made her entry with a duet track in 2006 and in 2009 she released her first solo album ‘Romantic Jatti’. She has also acted in some bollywood films.
TOP SONGS: DO NAIN, SEETI MARKE, IK TERE KARKE
- Amrinder Gill
Amrinder Singh Gill was born in Punjab in 1976. Graduated from khalsa college, Amritsar, Gill was always keen to learn more about Punjabi music and Bhangra. He gave up his job at a bank and then whole heartedly pursed music. His first album came out in 2000 called ‘Apni Jaan Ke’. He has sung in various Punjabi Movies and his voice is a public favourite.
TOP SONGS: DOORIYAN, JUDAA, DILDARIYAN, TU JUDA
- Neha Kakkar
Neha Kakkar is the definition of modern punjabi hit songs. Be it any genre, Neha can rock them all. She has been performing at small religious events from a very early age along with her brother and her sister. She was also a contestant at the very famous Indian Idol season 2. Even though she did not win the show, she has been very successful and everyone’s favourite.
TOP SONGS: MILE HO TUM HUMKO, GARMI, O SAKI SAKI, GALI GALI
- Jassi Gill
Jasdeep Singh Gill, popularly known without the middle name, was born in 1988 in Ludhiana. He is a singer and an actor who is associated with the Punjabi and Hindi cinema. He started with ‘Mr and Mrs 420’ in the punjabi industry in 2014 and then entered the Hindi cinema with ‘Happy phir bhaag jayegi’ in 2018. His songs are loved and appreciated worldwide. He sings songs from the pop, bhangra and romance genre.
TOP SONGS: VIAH, SURMA, OYE HOYE HOYE
- Garry Sandhu
Gurumukh Singh Sandhu was born in the Rurka Kalan village, Jalandar, Punjab. While studying at a local government school, Garry used to skip classes and run away. He failed 10th standard only to demonstrate how he was not good at studies. He was good at football and at 13, he learned kavishri from Gurdeep singh and used to sing at the gurudwara with his friend. At 17, he moved to England and worked various jobs before he finally released his first song 8 years later.
TOP SONGS: ILLEGAL WEAPON, JA NI JA, YEH BABY
- Kanika Kapoor
Born and brought up in Lucknow is a famous Indian Playback singer.She belongs to a business class family who also has a musical backgroud. She learned music from Pandit Ganesh Prasad Mishra from a very young age. At the age of 11, she got to sing for the All India Radio. She moved to India with her kids after her divorce and that was the start of her singing career. Her first song ‘Jugni Ji’ was released in the year 2012 which became a commercial success almost instantly.
TOP SONGS: DESI LOOK, HELLO JI, BABY DOLL
- Harshdeep Kaur
She is an Indian playback singer who is known for her Bollywood, Punjabi and Sufi choice of songs. She is popularly called the ‘Sufi ki Sultana’. She was only 16 years of age when she released her first single ‘Sajna mai Hari’. What makes her rare is also the fact that she is amongst the very few Indian singers who have sung for Hollywood. Her song RIP, composed by AR Rehman, was from the oscar winning movie ‘127 Hours’.
TOP SONGS: DILBARO, ZAALIMA, NACHDE NE SARE, HEER
- Mankirt Aulakh
Mankirt is a Punjab-based famous singer, music producer, model, and an actor. His friends and family call him ‘Mani’. He has won hearts of millions of his fans through his charm and simplicity. He was born in a small town in Fatehabad, Haryana in 1990. He was deeply into kabaddi but his friends made him switch to singing. He used to sing at various college fests, marriage functions, and other small events. He made his debut in 2013.
TOP SONGS: 8 RAFLAN, BADNAM, JAIL, VAIL
- Sidhu Moose wala
Shhubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, is an Indian lyricist, rapper, and a singer. He is one of the many cherished representatives of the Punjabi music. He began his career by composign lyrics and then shifted to choral music. He established a record label in 2019 and launched songs under his own name. He is canadian but his track ‘So High’ got him fame in India. He was also included in the Guardian’s 50 emerging artists list in 2020.
TOP SONGS: SOHNE LAGDE, LEGEND, POISON, G WAGON
- Yo Yo Honey Singh
Hirdesh Singh aka Yo Yo Honey Singh in an Indian musician, rapper, singer who introduced rap songs and pop music to India. His songs are still a hit almost 10 years later which is why he is one of the highest paid singers today. He was inclined towards music from his early childhood. He started working as a session musician. Fame found its way to his talent and until then he performed at small levels.
TOP SONGS: BREAK UP PARTY, LUNGI DANCE, BLUE EYES, DESI KALAKAR, DOPE SHOPE
These are the Top 20 Punjabi Singers that have given us music for every mood and possibly every occasion. Punjabi music industry is growing and evolving faster than ever. Definitely, we can expect to see many new rockstars in the upcoming future.
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