(Photo : IANS/alkayagnik/insta)
Mumbai, January 26 (IANS) Legendary playback singer Alka Yagnik expressed her profound gratitude after being conferred with the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
Sharing her emotions, the voice of romance described the honour as both humbling and deeply moving, reflecting on her decades-long journey in the Indian film and music industry.
Taking to Instagram, Alka wrote: “I am deeply grateful to the Government of India for bestowing upon me the Padma Bhushan. After decades in the film and music industry, this honour feels both humbling and deeply emotional.”
She went on to thank everyone who has been a part of her journey.
“My heartfelt thanks to the filmmakers, composers, lyricists, co-singers, musicians, technicians, press, media and every individual who forms the soul of our movies! This journey would not have been possible without you. To my friends, family, and listeners...your love has been my constant strength. This music, this journey, and this moment belong to all of us. Love, Alka.”
For the caption, she simply wrote: “Jai hind. 26.01.2026.”
On January 25, the singer was named as the recipient of the Padma Awards along with Mammootty, actor R. Madhavan and the late advertising legend Piyush Pandey.
Late actors Dharmendra and Satish Shah will be posthumously honoured with the Padma awards. While Dharmendra will be conferred with Padma Vibhushan, Satish Shah will be honoured with Padma Shri.
Yagnik, who has lent her vocal prowess to hits such as Tujhe Dekha To, Choli Ke Peeche, Agar Tum Saath Ho, Tip Tip Barsa Paani, Mera Piya Ghar Aaya, Jaane Dil Mein and Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin to name a few, is one of the most prominent singers of 1990s era Bollywood.
She has sung maximum female solo songs in her Bollywood career along with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Several of her soundtracks were included in the BBC "Top 40 Bollywood soundtracks of all time".
Yagnik is the most popular music artist of all time on YouTube, with a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records of 17 billion streams in 2021 and 16.6 billion in 2020. As of 2026, she is the No. 1 Music Artist on Youtube.
