Background information
Birth name: Usha Uthup
Also known as: Didi
Born: Bombay, Bombay State, Dominion of India (present day Mumbai, Maharashtra, India)
Genres: Indian pop, Filmi, Jazz, R&B,[1] Indian classical music, Western
Occupation: Playback singerActress
Instrument: Vocalist
Years active: 1966 – present
Website: ushauthup.com
Awards
Padma Shri (2011)
Padma Bhushan (2024)
Personal life
Usha was born on 8 November 1947 into a Tamil Iyer family in Mumbai. Her father was Vaidyanath Someshwar Sami Iyer who hailed from Chennai, in Tamil Nadu.
She studied at St. Agnes High School, Byculla. When she was in school she was thrown out of music class because she didn’t fit in with a voice like hers. But her music teacher recognised that she had some music in her and would give her clappers or triangles to play. Even though she was not formally trained in music, she grew up in an atmosphere of music. Her parents used to listen to a wide range from Western classical to Hindustani and Carnatic including Kishori Amonkar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan on radio and she used to join them. She used to enjoy listening to Radio Ceylon.
Her next door neighbour was S.M.A. Pathan, who was then the deputy commissioner of police. His daughter, Jamila, influenced Usha to learn Hindi and take up Indian classical music. This fusion approach helped her to pioneer her unique brand of Indian pop in the 1970s. She is married to Jani Chacko Uthup who is from Manarcaud Painumkal family of Kottayam, and was formerly married to the late Ramu. They have a daughter Anjali and a son Sunny, named after the song, “Sunny”. She is presently a resident of Kolkata, West Bengal.
Career
Usha Uthup was a judge in Star Vijay’s Airtel Super Singer Junior Season 1 and Airtel Super Singer 5. Her first public singing occurred when she was nine. Her sisters, who were already exploring a career in music, introduced her to Ameen Sayani, then the most popular radio announcer in India. Ameen Sayani gave her an opportunity to sing in the Ovaltine Music Hour of Radio Ceylon. She sang a number called “Mockingbird Hill”. After that, several appearances followed through her teenage years.
