Born in Delhi, India on December 16, 1986, Harshdeep Kaur is an award-winning Sufi, Punjabi, and Bollywood Hindi singer. She was born into a music-oriented family – her father owned a factory that made musical instruments – and began learning music when she was six years old. She studied Indian classical music under Tejpal Singh while also learning Western classical music at the Delhi Music Theatre under George Pullinkala. When she was 12 years old, she enrolled at the Delhi School of Music to learn piano and explore world music. In 2001, Kaur first came to prominence as the winner of the MTV Video GaGa Contest. By 2003, she was providing playback vocals for Bollywood films such as Oops! (2003), Karam (2005), and Red: The Dark Side (2007). In 2008, she participated and won the televised talent competition Junoon – Kuch Kar Kikhaane Ka. Because of her performances of songs from the Sufi Ki Sultan genre, she has become most associated with that style of music. Kaur’s work as a popular Bollywood playback singer continued, recording over 60 songs for Bollywood films up through 2020. Some of her most popular songs include “Kitiya Karoon” (from Rockstar/2011), “Alif Alla (Jugni)” (from Cocktail/2012), “Kabira” (from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani/2013), and “Zaalima” (from Raees/2017). Outside of her Bollywood work, Kaur’s music has also been featured on television shows, commercials, and in advertising campaigns. With a career that started on a talent competition in 2001, Kaur’s career came full circle in 2019 when she became a coach on the third season of India’s The Voice.
