Malkit Singh : Golden Star UK : Onlypunjab Specialz

He was born with a mercurial flair for the arts. When he was just four-years old, his singing ability won him admission into a school meant for six-year-olds. Ever since, the thirty-something Malkit Singh has maintained his head start on the competition, taking Punjabi bhangra music into realms previously unexplored.

True to his name, Malkit, which translates to ‘One Has Rules The World’, has taken his music from the Punjabi vernacular to cross-cultural experiments ranging from rap and house to the Hindi film screens. The traditional folk music has gone from the relative obscurity of a Punjabi village to the heady heights of a world stage. As the music spreads its wings across the globe, Malkit Singh encompasses an audience of all ages.

In 1981, his winning of the third Punjab collegiate competition award was marked with a "golden star" pendant. Malkit adopted the name for his band, and the Golden Star band is as synonymous to Malkit as the E-Street Band is to Bruce Springsteen.

As we move into 2002, Malkit Singh is still winning new audiences in the exploding world of bhangra and in the process he's opening the floodgates for many upcoming Bhangra artists.

From the classic debut song Nach Gidde Wich, the infectious-feel-good Gurh Nalo Ishq Mitha ‘Boliyan’ [an anthology of traditional folk songs], his trademark anthem Tootak Tootak Thootian (Hey Jamalo), these songs became the benchmark sound of the 1980’s. Furthermore, with his 90’s and Y2K excursions Midas Touch, Forever Gold and the smash-hit Kudi Patoley Wargi, the songs went on to become some of the most popular songs and videos in modern Bhangra music history.

As an international recording and touring artiste, performances at internationally acclaimed venues have further cemented his dominance of his music genius. Astonishingly, twenty-seven countries have already witnessed the live phenomenon that is Malkit Singh and his backing band ‘Golden Star’.

An enviable plethora of prestigious accolades have been bestowed on Malkit Singh over the years including the honour of being the biggest selling Bhangra artists in the world, recognised by the Millennium Edition of the Guinness Book of World Records in 2000. That follows his Recognition of the City of Los Angeles for Services to the Indian Community in 1997, Best Punjabi Male Singer and the Most Outstanding Track of the Bhangra Era for Tootak Tootak Thootian (Hey Jamalo). In 1998, the former Indian premier Mr. I. K. Gujral presented the Punjabi Cultural Award for services to music to Malkit Singh at his official residence - the sole recipient of this unrivalled honour. Earlier in 2001, Malkit Singh was honoured with the Guru Nanak University in Amritsar’s 27th Convocation Gold Medal Award Doctorate for his services to Punjabi Music and Culture.

Malkit Singh - Bhangra’s Saviour - is back with his 19th new album recorded in India with Jahawar Wattal in Delhi and purified in the UK. Bhangra is definitely here to stay with Malkit Singh as the purveyor of new school Bhangra…hail the revolution, long live the King!