New Delhi, April 13 -- Asha Bhosale, who passed away at 92 on April 12, 2026, was the last of the singing legends whose voices richly contributed to the "Golden Age" of Indian cinema. (1940-60). She was at the vanguard of a musical tradition that has evolved from Classical to the Western and beyond as the cinema itself has globalised.

None in the world sang for 82 years. Asha, who recorded her first song in 1943 at age 10, was, without doubt, the world's longest performing singer. She had declared last September that she was raring to drive to the studio and face the microphone and the orchestra.

It is not clear if she kept that promise. Her iconic 1960 song, still hummed at farewell parties, is "..Ke dil abhi bhara nahin" (loosely tra...