25 April 2013 :: Shamshad Begum (April 14, 1919 – April 23, 2013) was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Shamshad Begum was a versatile artist, singing over 6000 songs in Hindi and the Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Punjabi languages.
Begum was born in Amritsar, Punjab. She was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2009. She passed away at her Mumbai residence on the night of April 23, 2013 after prolonged illness.
