ADITI SARAWAGI
Indian Artists Doing Well Abroad
India is a multi-cultural country and has talent hidden in all its corners and Indians are reaching out across the world and making the whole country proud . There is no dearth of musicians in India or abroad . There are several Indian origin singers , musicians and artists who are making the world dance to their tunes . Let ’ s take a look at some global success stories .
FREDDIE MERCURY
When it comes to Indian origin musicians making waves in the world , the first name which comes to mind is Freddie Mercury who was the lead vocalist of the English rock band Queen . Born as Farrokh Bulsara , he was a Parsi hailing from southern Gujarat and he spent most of his childhood in a Panchgani boarding school . He was very well known for his stage performances and the band delivered memorable songs like Somebody to Love , Don ’ t Stop Me Now and the Crazy Little Thing Called Love .
NICKI MINAJ
A very popular American rapper , singer and songwriter , very few people know of Nicki ’ s Indian roots . Her father was an Indo-Trinidadian whose ancestors came to the Caribbean from India . She has had seven singles simultaneously on the U . S . Billboard hot 100 charts and is one of the most popular pop singers today having received as many as 10 Grammy nominations amongst awards and accolades .
NORAH JONES
Pandit Ravi Shankar ’ s daughter , Geetali Norah Jones Shankar or Norah Jones as she is popularly known is a nine-time Grammy winner . She has been an international star and has been listed in the top artists list of the decade for 2000- 2009 by Billboard .
KIM THAYIL
Another Indo-American musician , Kim Thayil is the lead guitarist of the Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden . He was also named the 100th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine .
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VIDYA VOX
Vidya Iyer or as she is more popularly known Vidya Vox , is a very wellknown singer and artiste with a YouTube channel having millions of subscribers . She is an Indian-born American who is trained in Carnatic Classical music and performs with Shankar Tucker on his channel . She is famous for her mash-ups and sings in English , Malayalam , Telugu , Hindi , Tamil and even French .
SHIRLEY SETIA
Shirley Setia is an Indo- Kiwi singer from New Zealand . She became an overnight YouTube star after winning a contest conducted by T-Series . Since then she has collaborated with artists from US , UK , India and Canada . Her videos have notched up more than 30 million views and is one of New Zealans ’ s biggest international artists . She has recently shifted to Mumbai to pursue playback singing in the Indian film industry .
JONITA GANDHI
A playback singer in Bollywood , Jonita Gandhi is an Indo-Canadian singer who has original songs , mash ups and covers to her credit . She sings in Tamil , Telugu and Hindi as well . Having millions of subscribers on her YouTube channel , she is very popular over social media as well .
MANISH RAVAL
Not only are Indian origin singers making waves abroad , Indo-American music supervisor Manish Raval is very well known for his work in American series ’ Girls , New Girl and Community and he has also won the Music Supervisor of the Year Award in 2012 for his work in ‘ Girls ’.
SIDDHARTHA KHOSLA
He is part of the American Indie Rock act Goldspot . Their music has been featured on popular television shows like ‘ The O . C .’ and ‘ How I Met Your Mother ’. The band has also composed music for ‘ The Neighbors ’ and also for ‘ The Royals ’.
KULLY BHAMRA
A British Indian music producer and artist , Kully Bhamra has composed music for popular American TV shows like 90210 , Modern Family , Will & Grace , Frasier , Every Body Hates Chris , Sex and The City , The Oprah Winfrey Show and Americas Next Top Model . His music was even featured in the Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine .
KAM FRANTIC
Kam Frantic is a British Indian composer , arranger , music producer and sound engineer . He has been working in this field for 25 years and owns a music production studio in the UK-Frantic Studios . He has composed the theme music for the BBC comedy series ‘ Citizen Khan ’.
Music connects one and all and no matter the origin , talent always shines through and makes its own place in the world and these artists prove just that inspiring many others to make their name in the music industry as well .