Asha Bhosle: The world's most recorded artist

Asha Bhosle: The world's most recorded artist

Author: BBC World Service August 17, 2026 Duration: 10:40

In 2011 Asha Bhosle, India’s queen of melody, was officially named the most recorded artist in music history. The Guinness World Record recognised the astonishing scale of her career, having performed up to 11,000 songs in more than 20 Indian languages since 1947.

The title previously belonged to her sister Lata Mangeshkar, and together the siblings dominated India’s playback singing world for decades, lending their voices to film soundtracks that actors later lip‑synced onscreen.

Reena Stanton-Sharma uses BBC archive interviews to tell the story.

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(Photo: Asha Bhosle performs in New York in 2008. Credit: Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)


Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.We look at the lives of some of the most...
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