Chitra Singh earned the sobriquet of the “queen of ghazals”, when along with the late legend and her husband Jagjit Singh, she democratised the musical form and brought it out to the masses. Before they made it all the rage, ghazals fell strictly into the elite territory.

Chitra, who turns a year older on 11 April, was born a Bengali and had no formal training in music. She met Jagjit Singh in 1967 and the duo went on to create some incredible music together. She stopped singing after their son Vivek passed away in a car crash in 1990.

A tribute to the singer with some of her most memorable numbers.