Lata (लता) is the Sanskrit word for **"creeper, vine"** — also poetically used for a delicate, slender woman. **Lata Mangeshkar (1929-2022)** — the **"Nightingale of India" — recorded songs in over 36 Indian languages and is widely considered the most prolific playback singer in human history**. **Her career spanned 73 years**, from 1942 to her death; she sang for every major Bollywood leading lady from Madhubala to Madhuri Dixit. **First Indian to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London** (1974). **Bharat Ratna (1999)** — India's highest civilian honor. **Her sister Asha Bhosle is the only playback singer who can rival her in scope.**
Subject of Raju Bharatan's *Lata Mangeshkar: A Biography* (1995).
Lata reduces to nine — the number of Nightingale of India.