It mostly happens in the field of music that aspiring singers, out of their deep adulation, try to follow the style and voice of their stars impeccably. Whether it's music, performing arts or cinema, wannabes usually idolise their icon. It mostly happens in the field of music that aspiring singers, out of their deep adulation, try to follow the style and voice of their stars impeccably. Sometimes they tend to mimic their icons and in the process pass into oblivion after the initial hype. But there are occasions when talented singers find their individual charm in their voice and shoot themselves to stardom. Here is a list of legends and the singers inspired by them who made it big in the music industry.
Mohammed Rafi
Mahendra Kapoor: Perhaps no other voice had the similarity with that of singing legend Mohammed Rafi as Mahendra Kapoor's had. Or else, a commoner would have easily identified that the songs like 'Neele Gagan Ke Tale', 'Tum Agar Saath Dene Ka' or 'Mere Desh Ki Dharti' were Mahendra Kapoor's and not Rafi's. The singer, who considered Mohammed Rafi as his mentor, had recorded hundreds of songs in his decades long career.
Mohammed Aziz: He used to sing from his childhood and started his singing career at the restaurant Ghalib in Kolkata. He was an ardent fan of Mohammed Rafi and debuted in playback singing through the Bengali film titled, 'Jyoti'. He later came to Mumbai and his first Hindi film was 'Ambar', released in 1984. His major break came with the song 'Mard Tange Wala,' in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer, 'Mard'. The singer has since been busy in Odia music industry.
Sonu Nigam: He began his music career singing mostly the songs of Mohammed Rafi. He has released several albums of the legendary singer's songs, the first one was 'Rafi Ki Yaden' brought out in 1992. Though a prolific singer, it was his stint as anchor of the TV show 'Sa Re Ga Ma' that made Sonu a household name. The genres of his musical outing have been wide and varied from devotional to romantic, rock, ghazal, patriotic songs and so on. Besides Hindi, the singer has so far recorded songs in more than 17 languages.
Shabbir Kumar: An ardent fan of Mohammed Rafi, Shabbir Kumar always believed that he was the true successor of the legendary singer. He began his music career from Baroda and his first break in Bollywood came through the film 'Tajurba', the songs of which were composed by Usha Khanna. He later went on to record songs for big names in Bollywood like Anu Malik, Lakshmikant Pyarelal and RD Burman among others.
Kishore Kumar
Abhijeet Bhattacharya: Abhijit, who considers Kishore Kumar as his mentor and idol, had struggled a lot to get a break in playback singing. Hailing from Kanpur, Abhijeet moved to Mumbai to pursue singing career and took up odd jobs to sustain himself. He was given a break by legendary music composer RD Burman. He didn't have to look back thereafter and went on to record over 600 songs so far.
Kumar Sanu: Originally named Kedarnath Bhattacharya, his name was changed to Kumar Sanu as per the suggestion by music composer duo Kalyanji-Anandji as his voice resembled that of Kishore Kumar. In 1990, music directors Nadeem Shravan got Kumar Sanu to sing 11 songs in the film 'Ashiqui'. That made him a game-changer in playback singing in Bollywood and ruled the music scene for a long time.
KJ Yesudas
K G Markose: The similarity of Markose' voice with that of Yesudas has been striking from the outset. He made a thunderous debut through the song 'Kannipoomaanam' from the film 'Kelkatha Sabdham', directed by Balachandra Menon. However, he is known more for stage programmes and Christian devotional songs. An accident in Bahrain while Markose was on his way to a concert had left the singer's career in shambles for a while. He made a comeback with the song 'Poomaname' for the film 'Nirakkoottu' and has sung several film songs thereafter.
Madhu Balakrishnan: Madhu Balakrishan who shot to prominence with a voice similar to that of Yesudas, later found his own strain and successfully paved his way to success. He has sung over 400 songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages in a career spanning two decades.
Biju Narayanan: Biju Narayanan is yet another singer who has a voice similar to that of Yesudas. He has sung over 400 songs in various south Indian languages. He began his music career by singing tracks for P Jayachandran, Unni Menon and KG Markose. His major break was the song 'Pathu Veluppinu' which he sang for the film 'Venkalam' in 1993.
Abhijit Vijayan: Abhijit is known for his voice and style similar to that of Yesudas. Though there were criticisms that he imitated the musical doyen, it was later found that the resemblance of Abhijit's voice with that of Yesudas' was natural and not affected. His debut in playback singing came through the song 'Kuttanadan Kaattu Chodikkunnu' for the film 'Bhayanakam' directed by Jayaraj. He was selected for Kerala state award for the best singer recently but rejected by the jury for the uncanny resemblance of his voice to that of Yesudas'.
SP Balasubrahmanyam
Mano: Born as Nagoor Babu in Tenali of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh, the singer re-christened himself 'Mano' to avoid clash with Nagore EM Hanifa, an established singer. Mano's entry into playback singing was accidental as veteran MS Viswanathan had roped him for recording a song when SP Balasubrahmanyam, who was supposed to render the song, didn't show up at the studio. He sung around 2,000 tracks with K Chakravarthy and had associated with Ilayaraja for a long-standing career. He was approached by AR Rahman for the duet song 'Mukkabla' with Swarnalatha. The song went on to become one of all-time hits crossing all language barriers.
Afsal: Though his voice had some similarity with that of SP, He adopted a distinct style and rendered several hit songs in Malayalam. His first song for a movie was 'Kannilambum Villum' for the movie 'Valyettan' released in 2000. He rendered a range of peppy numbers which are still played on festive and celebratory occasions.
