Arijit Singh is an Indian playback singer, music composer, and music producer who works predominantly in Hindi cinema and has also lent his voice to songs in Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati, Odia, Assamese, and Punjabi. He rose to wide popular recognition in the early 2010s and is regarded as one of the most prolific and commercially successful playback singers in contemporary Indian music.
| Full name | Arijit Singh |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 April 1987, Jiaganj, Murshidabad district, West Bengal |
| Profession | Playback singer, composer, music producer |
| Years active | 2005 onwards |
| Languages of work | Hindi, Bengali, and several other Indian languages |
| Notable training | Hindustani classical music; influences include Rashid Khan and Ghulam Ali |
| Spouse | Koel Roy |
| Notable awards | National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer; multiple Filmfare Awards |
Arijit Singh was born into a Bengali family in Jiaganj, a small town in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal. His mother and maternal grandmother were trained in Hindustani classical music, and he received early training in classical music, tabla, and rabindra sangeet. He pursued school education in Jiaganj and Raha Manik Chand Vidyapith and later associated with Sripat Singh College.
Arijit gained national visibility as a participant in the television singing reality show Fame Gurukul on Sony Entertainment Television in 2005, where he reached the later stages of the competition. He subsequently appeared on 10 Ke 10 Le Gaye Dil, hosted by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. After these appearances, he relocated to Mumbai and worked for several years as a music programmer, arranger, and ghost vocalist for established music directors including Pritam, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Vishal–Shekhar, and Mithoon, gaining experience in studio production before establishing himself as a lead playback voice.
His first widely noted playback song was Phir Mohabbat from the film Murder 2 (2011), composed by Mithoon. National recognition came with Tum Hi Ho, composed by Mithoon for Aashiqui 2 (2013), directed by Mohit Suri and produced under the Vishesh Films banner. The song became one of the most popular Hindi film tracks of the decade and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer.
Following Aashiqui 2, Arijit became a sought-after voice for romantic and melancholic compositions across major Hindi productions. Frequent collaborations include music directors Pritam, Mithoon, Amaal Mallik, Jeet Gannguli, A. R. Rahman, Vishal–Shekhar, Sachin–Jigar, and Sajid–Wajid.
He has also recorded prolifically for Bengali cinema, including songs for films directed by Srijit Mukherji and others, and has composed music for select Bengali film projects.
Arijit owns and operates a recording studio in Mumbai and has set up musical infrastructure in his hometown of Jiaganj. He performs extensively in concert, with international tours covering venues in North America, Europe, the Gulf, and Southeast Asia. He typically appears with a live band and is known for performing with a harmonium on stage.
Arijit runs the Let There Be Light Foundation, a charitable trust based in West Bengal that supports causes including education, healthcare, and assistance to economically weaker sections in the Murshidabad region. He has publicly stated that he donates a significant portion of his concert and recording earnings to charitable work.
Arijit is married to Koel Roy and lives primarily in Jiaganj, travelling to Mumbai for recording and other professional commitments. He is known for maintaining a low public profile and limited engagement with mainstream media and social media.
Arijit Singh's voice has been a defining element of mainstream Hindi film music in the 2010s and 2020s, particularly within the romantic ballad tradition. His combination of classical training, restrained delivery, and adaptability across composers has made him a successor figure in the lineage of Hindi playback singing that includes voices such as Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Kumar Sanu, and Sonu Nigam in commercial influence, while retaining a distinct, contemporary identity.