Yo Yo Honey Singh

Early life

Singh was born on 15 March 1983 at Hoshiarpur, Punjab to a Sikh family. His birth name is Hirdesh Singh. He studied music at the Trinity School in the United Kingdom. His family later moved to Delhi.

Personal life

Singh is married to Shalini Talwar Singh, whom he introduced to audiences for the first time on the television show India's Raw Star.

In late 2014, Singh disappeared from the music scene, before making a comeback the following year, but mostly avoided the media. In March 2016, he attributed his 18 month long absence from the public to his bipolar disorder.

Promotion

Singh and Diljit Dosanjh's song "Lak 28 Kudi Da" reached No. 1 in the BBC Asian Download Charts in May 2011. The song was released as a promotional track for Diljit Dosanjh's film Lion of Punjab.

Singh received the ETC award for the best sound in 2006 for his song "Glassi", the PTC award for the Best Folk Pop Award 2009 for "Rebirth", and the PTC award for Punjab's Best Music Director 2011.

It has been reported that he was paid the highest fee ever for a Bollywood song (as of 2012) of ₹7 million (US$110,000) for a song in the films Cocktail and Mastan.

Singh topped the chart of trending videos of 2012. He earned two places on YouTube's list of top 10 trending videos of 2012. His song "Brown Rang" made it to the top spot. "High Heels", in collaboration with Jaz Dhami, took the fourth spot.

Career

Singh prefers to sing in Hindi and his native language Punjabi rather than English.

The Punjabi album International Villager was released on 11 November 2011. The track "Gabru" from the album, featuring singer J-Star, topped the Asian music charts, including the official BBC Asian charts.

He has performed at many college festivals, including Ansal Institute of Technology and Ramjas College, Delhi.

He learned DJing from DJ Vishal and stood second in the "War of DJs".

Bollywood

Singh has become widely popular in Bollywood. He was first noticed after his debut song in the Bollywood film Shakal Pe Mat Ja, featuring Gagan Sidhu. He charged Rs. 7 million for a song in the film Mastan. This is the largest amount paid to a song artist in Bollywood to date, making Singh one of the highest-paid musical artists in Bollywood.

The song "Angreji Beat" from Singh's album International Villager, featuring Gippy Grewal, was featured in Saif Ali Khan's film Cocktail.

Singh launched his single "Bring Me Back ft. Spoken Word" at the Video Music Awards India, which aired on MTV India. The award show was packed with many films and independent artists from throughout the world, including India. After the show, his song was premiered on the channel.

He rose to fame and popularity in Bollywood in late 2013, after producing songs in mainstream big-budget films such as Chennai Express and Boss. He has also had popular songs in smaller-budget films such as Mere Dad Ki Maruti, Bajatey Raho and Fugly.

In late 2014, Singh suddenly disappeared from Bollywood and didn't release any music for months. Many theories rose about his sudden disappearance, but the majority were false. In March 2016 he clarified that he had been suffering from bipolar disorder and had been under medical supervision for 18 months at his Noida based house.

After being absent in the Bollywood music scene around the end of 2014, Singh made a comeback in February 2015 with his first song of the year, "Birthday Bash", followed by songs in films including Gabbar is Back and Bhaag Johnny.

Acting

Singh made his acting debut with Baljit Singh Deo's Punjabi film Mirza - The Untold Story (2012), performing the role of Deesha, a mad gangster. Despite only being a cameo appearance, the role went on to win Singh the PTC Punjabi Film Award for Best Male Debut. The following year, Singh appeared in another Punjabi film, this time a comedy by Amit Prasher, Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22, as Rolly, a childish and spoilt brat, alongside Amrinder Gill. This was Singh's first main role in a film.

Singh then made his debut as an actor in Bollywood cinema with the 2014 musical-thriller film The Xpose, alongside Himesh Reshammiya. The film was released on 16 May 2014, to mixed reviews from critics, though it was a box office flop.

In 2016, Singh is expected to return to acting with the Punjabi action film Zorawar, directed by Vinnil Markan, which is marketed as one of the most expensive Punjabi films to date.

Controversies

In the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, the lyrics to some of his songs, which depict violence against women and rape positively, have caused controversy. A first information report (FIR) was lodged against Singh for his offensive lyrics, and a group of social activists filed an online petition demanding cancellation of his New Year performance at a Gurgaon hotel. After the campaign, Singh's New Year concert was cancelled by the hotel. Singh denies writing these offensive lyrics.

On 4 July 2013, the Punjab and Haryana High court dismissed all the cases filed against Singh, which said that he has sung the Balatkaari song. The FIR and the public interest litigation (PIL) filed against him were dismissed completely by the court, which stated that there is no proof that he has sung the song and that YouTube is such a medium where any one can upload any content under anyone's name. In this case also, a derogatory song against women was uploaded on YouTube under Singh's name by an imposter and then reports were filed against him.

Singh's song "Party All Night" in Akshay Kumar's film Boss was at the centre of a controversy. Producers of the movie had to submit a petition in Delhi High Court claiming that they had 'muted' an alleged vulgar word in Singh's song. The court heard a petition filed by lawyer Sanjay Bhatnagar seeking a stay on the film, contending that without the censor board's approval, the song could not be released with such a vulgar word. The petitioner had sought a stay on the release of the film until either the word or the song was deleted from the film.

His work has been perceived as being vulgar, misogynist, promoting violence against women and a bad influence on youth. There have been reactions in print to Singh, such as from Annie Zaidi, who wrote "An Open Letter to Honey Singh" in January 2013, and Sandipan Sharma, who wrote "Thanks for the crassness: An open letter to Honey Singh from a parent" in July 2014.

Another controversy took place between him and singer Raftaar in 2014. The controversy was about Raftaar not getting credit for lyrics of the song "Yeh Fugly Fugly Kya Hai". The controversy went away without making a major effect. However, both rappers started targeting each other in their songs. Raftaar's "Swag Mera Desi" had a line which was already used in Singh's song "Party With The Bhoothnath". Singh also replied with the song "Stardom" from his album Desi Kalakaar.

Singh is reportedly in rehab in Chandigarh, says Jasbir Jassi. However, Jasbir denies this.

Awards