Artists like Manna Dey

Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, known professionally as Hemanta Mukherjee and Hemant Kumar, was an Indian music director and a playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, along with several other Indian languages, including Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Assamese, Tamil, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Konkani, Sanskrit and Urdu. He was an artist in Bengali and Hindi film music, Rabindra Sangeet, and various other genres. He was the recipient of two National Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and was popularly known as the "Voice of God".

Mohammed Rafi was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice; his songs varied from fast, peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award in India. In 1967, the Government of India honored him with the fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri. In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in a CNN-IBN poll.

Kishore Kumar was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. Kumar was one of the most popular singers in the Indian subcontinent, notable for his yodelling and ability to sing songs in different voices. He used to sing in different genres but some of his rare compositions, considered classics, were lost in time. In 2013, Kumar was voted "The Most Popular Male Playback Singer" in a poll conducted by the Filmfare magazine.

Geeta Dutt was an Indian classical and playback singer. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema and Bengali cinema and is considered as one of the best playback singers of all time in Hindi films. She also sang many modern Bengali songs in the non-film genre.

Talat Mahmood was an Indian playback singer who is considered one of the greatest and most popular Indian male film song and ghazal singers. Although he tried his luck as a film actor, he did not succeed a great deal in acting.

Kumar Sanu is an Indian playback singer who gained recognition in Hindi cinema during the 1990s. He is known for his melodious voice and prolific output, recording songs in multiple languages including Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bhojpuri and Odia.

Sukhwinder Singh is an Indian playback singer, music composer, lyricist and music producer who has worked primarily in Hindi films. He has also recorded songs for films and music albums in several other Indian languages, including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Punjabi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali.

Alka Yagnik is an Indian playback singer who worked predominantly in Hindi cinema from 1980s to mid 2010s. One of the most prominent singers of 1990s era Bollywood, she has received several accolades including two National Film Awards, two Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards and seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer from thirty-seven nominations. She was honoured with Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for her contribution to Indian music and playback singing in 2026. Alka is cited as 'Voice Of A Generation' and is known as 'Melody Queen' of Indian cinema. Yagnik 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".

Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian actor, playback singer, and producer who primarily works in Hindi cinema. Widely considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema, he has starred in over 200 films. Bachchan has been called as the Shahenshah of Bollywood, Sadi ke Mahanayak, Bollywood's Star of the Millennium, or simply Big B. His dominance in the Indian film industry during the 1970s–80s led the French director François Truffaut to describe him as a "one-man industry". He is a recipient of several accolades including seven National Film Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards & one South Filmfare award.

Monali Thakur is an Indian playback singer and film actress. She is the recipient of several awards including a National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" from the film Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) and a Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Sawaar Loon" from the film Lootera (2013). She was a judge of Zee TV's singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs 2014. She was also an "expert" on Colors TV's Rising Star for two consecutive seasons.

Sunidhi Dushyant Chauhan is an Indian playback singer. Known for her bold vocal range and versatility, she has recorded songs for films in several Indian languages and received accolades including three Filmfare Awards and a Filmfare Award South.

Mohit Chauhan is an Indian playback singer, known for his work in Hindi films. He was a part of the Silk Route band. Chauhan has received two Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer a Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer and three Zee Cine Award For Best Male Playback Singer awards. He has recorded several songs for films and albums many different languages, and is one of the most prominent Indipop singers.

Kalyanji–Anandji were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Kalyanji Virji Shah and his brother Anandji Virji Shah. In a career spanning over forty years, they composed music for about 250 films, working with many well-known filmmakers and singers.

Rahul Dev Burman was an Indian music director and singer, who is considered to be one of the greatest and most successful music directors of the Hindi film music industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films, bringing a new level of music ensemble with his compositions. Burman did his major work with legendary singers Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi. He also worked extensively with lyricists like Majrooh Sultanpuri, Anand Bakshi and Gulzar, with whom he created some of the most memorable numbers in his career. Nicknamed Pancham, he was the only son of the composer Sachin Dev Burman and his Bengali lyricist wife Meera Dev Burman.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is a Pakistani Punjabi singer, primarily of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Khan is one of the most popular and highest paid singers in Pakistan. He is the nephew of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the son of Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan and the grandson of Qawwali singer Fateh Ali Khan. In addition to Qawwali, he also performs ghazals and other light music. He is also well-known as a playback singer in the Hindi cinema and Pakistan film industry.

Allah Rakha Rahman, also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in international cinema. He is a recipient of seven National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, seven Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards, and eighteen Filmfare Awards South. In 2010, the Government of India conferred him with the Padma Bhushan, the nation's third-highest civilian award.

Bappi Aparesh Lahiri, also known as Bappi Da, was an Indian singer, composer and record producer. He popularised the use of synthesised disco music in Indian music industry and sang some of his own compositions. He was popular in the 1980s and 1990s with filmi soundtracks. He delivered major box office successes primarily in Hindi, Telugu, and Bengali films. His music was well received into the 21st century.

Vishal–Shekhar are an Indian music composition, production, singing, and songwriting duo consisting of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, from Mumbai. Known predominantly for their work as music composers in Hindi cinema, Vishal–Shekhar have also recorded in Telugu, Tamil and Marathi with the likes of Akon, The Vamps, Imogen Heap and Diplo. They have been streamed over 3 billion times on YouTube, have had 72 number-one singles, and have been featured on over 350 film sound tracks.