Lata’s death is a great loss: Imran
Bollywood superstar singer Lata Mangeshkar, known to millions as the “nightingale of India” and a regular fixture of the country’s airwaves for decades, died on Sunday at the age of 92.
She passed away in a Mumbai hospital after being admitted to its intensive care unit on January 11 with Covid-19 symptoms.
“I am anguished beyond words,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter.“The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us.She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled.”
Public broadcaster Doordarshan announced a state funeral and two days of national mourning for the singer after news of her death broke.
Mangeshkar was born in 1929 and started her musical training early under the tutelage of her father Deenanath, singing in his theatrical productions when she was just five.
Her father’s death when she was only 13 forced her to take on the role of breadwinner to support four younger siblings, and the family eventually moved to Mumbai in 1945.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, eminent personalities, politicians, cricketers and ordinary citizens on Sunday described Lata Mangeshkar as the “nightingale of the subcontinent” and the “queen of melody” as they paid tributes to the legendary singer, describing her death as the “darkest day in the world of music”.
“With the death of Lata Mangeshkar the subcontinent has lost one of the truly great singers the world has known.
Listening to her songs has given so much pleasure to so many people all over the world,” tweeted Khan, who was on a four-day visit to China.“Lata Mangeshkar’s death marks the end of an era in music.
Lata ruled the world of music for decades and the magic of her voice will live forever,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry earlier tweeted in a condolence message in Urdu from Beijing, where he was as part of a delegation led by Prime Minister Khan.
