Yo Yo Honey Singh

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Yo Yo Honey Singh
Background information
Birth name	Hirdesh Singh
Born	(1983-03-15) 15 March 1983 (age 42) Karampura, Delhi, India
Origin	Punjab, India
Genres	pop[1] EDM[1] bhangra[1] pop rap R&B[1]
Occupations	singer record producer actor
Years active	2003–present
Labels	T-Series Zee Music Company Speed Records
Spouse	Shalini Talwar ​ ​ (m. 2011; div. 2023)​

Hirdesh "Honey" Singh (born 15 March 1983), known professionally as Yo Yo Honey Singh, is an Indian singer and music producer. He commenced his career as a hip-hop music producer in 2003 with his underground album titled Desi By Nature, subsequently working as a session and recording artist within the underground music scene until the release of his debut studio album, International Villager.

Hirdesh Singh was born on 15 March 1983 to a Sikh family in Hoshiarpur, Punjab. He grew up in Karampura, West Delhi which was a refugee settlement after 1947 India-Pakistan partition. Singh's family are Lahori Sikh refugees from Lahore, Pakistan. He studied at the Guru Nanak Public School in Punjabi Bagh.^[2]

Singh used to play Tabla during his school days and initially wore a Turban as he is a Sikh, but his hair started forming dreadlocks naturally. Even after washing his hair 3 times a week, his hair had no change because of which his mother had to cut his hair when he was age 12 or 13. Singh narrates how the next day in school during the assembly, he wrapped a cloth on his head and the principal after noticing him, pointed at him to get out. His father didn't talk to him for 2/2.5 years because of him cutting his hair & Singh left playing Tabla because of this incident and subsequently became an Atheist.^[3]

Singh states that he was only keen on gathering knowledge about religion but not practicing it. Throughout his life, he has been introduced to a variety of religions including Sikhism while growing up in a Sikh household, Hinduism from his spiritual guru, Abhinav Acharya Ji and Islam & Sufism during his youth days when he shifted to Mohali, Punjab in 2007. Singh became a devotee of Lord Shiva during his recovery from Bipolar disorder.^[4]

Singh did B.Sc. in I.T. in 2001 in a way to get a computer from his family on which he could make beats and do music production while studying for his college.^[5] He lived in a flat in Rohini Sector 3 given by his Acharya Ji after his father kicked him out. Singh credits his father for the exposure he received to music despite his father being against the idea of Singh entering the music industry. His father is fond of Mohammed Rafi 's music which Singh claims used to be played on loop during his childhood. His father also had an expensive music system at home due to his love for music despite not having a very high paying job. Singh's mother was also a singer and still sings. Singh in particular, liked Kishore Kumar as he believed Kumar's songs to be more notorious.^[6]

Given his interest in music, Singh traveled to the United Kingdom to study at the Trinity College Of Music.^[7] After graduating, he came back to Delhi. He began his career as a recording artist and a Bhangra music producer. His first claim to fame came when he received the ETC award for Best Sound for his song, Glassy in 2006.^[8]

Singh started as an underground music producer in 2003 with his album Desi By Nature. Singh is a self-taught music producer which he learnt by sampling music, beats from English songs during his college days. The pirated CDs of the album started selling in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

In 2004, A music company from Birmingham contacted him for potentially making him a music producer for a Punjabi remix album, while establishing itself in India as it was a time during which remixes were trending in India. Singh visited Mumbai at 21 years of age for the album. Babul Supriyo, Shweta Pandit were some of the singers for the album. Singh worked on the album for 10 months. A music video was shot for the track "Lekar Hum Deewana Dil Remix" which showcased his first on screen appearance as "Muzikid Honey Singh" stylised for Music Kid Honey Singh, which was the name given to him. The album was titled Bollywood Rebirth. However, the album flopped. Singh rejected his pay which was 5 lakh rupees because the album did not perform well.

In 2005, Singh did an album for Bill Singh named Peshi where he also made an appearance in the music video. In 2005–06, Punjabi singer Ashok Masti contacted Singh for composing a song for him. The song composed by Singh was "Glassy", in which Singh for the first time, sang an English rap which was written by his friend Sean known by his stage name today as "Bonafide". Singh also appeared in its music video with Masti. The track became a blockbuster even as far as going to BBC world charts. "Glassy" became a part of Masti's album Clap On The Beat for which Singh did Engineering & Mastering.

After the success of "Glassy", Singh shifted to Mohali, Punjab in 2007, work related as he was suggested by a friend that he would get work easily in Punjab music industry. Singh was an award-winning music producer in Punjab during this time. Singh is known for his fusion of Punjabi and Hindi music, prefers to sing in his native languages rather than in English.^[9]

During the early 2010s, Singh became popular in the Indian music industry, performing at numerous college festivals such as Ansal Institute of Technology and Ramjas College in Delhi.^[10] His collaborations with prominent artists, like Diljit Dosanjh, further cemented his position. In 2008–09, Singh worked with Diljit for Diljit's sixth studio album titled The Next Level, for which Singh composed the music and also made key rap appearances on tracks such as "Panga" and "Los Angeles (LA)", while also being the lyricist for the track "Ru Ba Ru", Diljit's only Urdu track till date. The album was a hit and people enjoyed the duo's creation. The title of their song Lak 28 Kudi Da reached number one on the BBC Asian Download Charts in May 2011,^[11] and served as a promotional track for Dosanjh's film Lion of Punjab.^[12]

In late 2010, Singh came back to Delhi after being an award-winning music producer in Punjab for 3 years, to further work upon his own independent debut studio album. Singh made his mark on the music scene with the release of his Punjabi album International Villager on 11 November 2011, containing 14 tracks. The album's track "Gabru", featuring J-Star, quickly climbed to the top of the Asian music charts, including the official BBC Asian charts.^[13] The music video for the track Brown Rang, became YouTube's most trending video of the year 2012. Singh was praised for his music composition, lyrics, singing, rap and an Internationally shot music video in Dubai by an American director named David Zennie. It won the top spot in the list of YouTube's most watched videos of 2012 in India with over 10 million views. The song has received over 600 million views on YouTube.^[14][15][16] The album has since been cherished by many, even calling it as one of Singh's finest works. The tracks "Angreji Beat" by Honey Singh and Gippy Grewal, "Dope Shope" by Honey Singh and Deep Money, "Goliyaan" by Diljit Dosanjh and Honey Singh and "Get Up Jawani" by Badshah (rapper) and Honey Singh are the other noteworthy chartbusters from the album.

By 2012, Singh set a record for the highest fee ever paid to an artist for a Bollywood song, reportedly receiving ₹7 million rupees (US$84,000) for tracks in the movies Cocktail and Mastan. He sang his first Hindi song in Mastan.^[17] His popularity surged on YouTube with two of his videos— "Brown Rang" and "High Heels" (a collaboration with Jaz Dhami)—ranking among the top trending videos that year. Following the success of "Brown Rang", Singh released "Angreji Beat" in collaboration with Gippy Grewal. This track further solidified his presence in the music industry, becoming a party anthem across India. In 2013, Singh released another song, "Blue Eyes". The song, known for its sleek production and catchy hook, became an instant hit, showcasing his versatility in blending Hindi and English lyrics with an international sound.

In 2014, Singh released his second album, Desi Kalakaar, with the eponymous title track starring Sonakshi Sinha, Gulshan Grover & Singh, while the track "Love Dose" featured Urvashi Rautela & Singh. The album containing 8 tracks was released on 26 August 2014. The album received positive reception amongst the audience with people liking both of the aforementioned tracks' music videos and tracks such as "One Thousand Miles" from the album.^[18] The music video for the track "Desi Kalakaar" was shot in Los Angeles, California starring Singh & Sonakshi as lovers with Grover as Sonakshi's father and the villain.^[19] The music video's duration is about 9:58 mins involving a long car chase scene between Singh and Los Angeles Police, which glued the viewers to their screens to figure out about what will happen to the two lovers.^[20] The music video for "Love Dose" was shot at Westfield Stratford City in London, United Kingdom with Rautela as Singh's love interest. There were plans to shoot music videos for other tracks from the album however, Singh's health started deteriorating.

Despite facing health issues that forced him to take a break from his career, Singh continued to contribute to the music industry. During this period, he wrote the hit track "Dheere Dheere" in 2015, a recreation of the song from the movie Aashiqui. The track featured Hrithik Roshan and Sonam Kapoor in the music video and was the first Indian song to exceed 200 million views on YouTube.^[21]

His debut song in Bollywood films was "Shakal Pe Mat Ja", featuring Gagan Sidhu. In 2011, Singh also did the opening verse for the track "Subha Hone Na De" which included Mika Singh and a verse from Bohemia (rapper) as well, the song featured in the Bollywood film Desi Boyz. Singh charged Rs. 7 million for a song in the film Mastan. This was the largest amount paid to a singer in Bollywood then, making Singh one of the highest-paid musical artists in Bollywood.^[22][23]

In February 2015, he came back with the song Birthday Bash with Alfaaz for the film Diliwali Zaalim Girlfriend,^[24] followed by songs in films including Gabbar Is Back and Bhaag Johnny.^[25][26]

Mumbai Saga's first song "Shor Machega", was released on 28 February 2021. It was composed by Singh, with lyrics and vocals by Singh and Hommie Dilliwala.^[27]

Singh made his acting debut with a cameo appearance in Baljit Singh Deo's Punjabi film Mirza - The Untold Story (2012), performing the role of Deesha, a mad gangster. The role won him 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.

In 2016, Singh starred in the Punjabi action film Zorawar, directed by Vinnil Markan, which was marketed as one of the most expensive Punjabi films to date. The film was critically acclaimed.

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Find sources: "Yo Yo Honey Singh" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Mafia Mundeer was a platform created by Yo Yo Honey Singh. Singh's initial thought regarding the platform was to incorporate different artists who would come together to sing, perform, record and release their tracks with no legal boundation. The name was coined by Singh and the late Raj Brar who was also the person who taught Singh how to write songs. Singh asked Brar to suggest him a Punjabi name for a non violent gang like how the youngsters group up together in places like Delhi to which Brar replied with "Mundeer". Singh also took the inspiration from the style of "Mafias" and how Mafias act and control the Gangsters in the streets. Hence, "Mafia Mundeer" came into existence.^[28]

The platform has since become notable as it included today's huge artists from Delhi such as Raftaar, Ikka Singh, Lil Golu and allegedly Badshah (rapper). While it also included Alfaaz, Money Aujla, J Star, Leo Grewal, Ninja (singer) from Punjab.^[29]

The involvement of Badshah as a member of "Mafia Mundeer" has been a matter of great discussion. Badshah started working with Singh after his track Soda Whiskey turned out to be a hit in 2006. Badshah's stage name at that time was Cool Equal. It was Honey Singh who gave him the name "Badshah" as according to Badshah, Singh thought that he lived like a Badshah i.e. he would wake up, eat or sleep whenever he wanted to and according to his own liking. Hence, the name "Badshah" was given by Singh. Singh and Badshah worked closely since 2006 as Singh was paid by Badshah's father to do music for Badshah's English album. The duo recorded several tracks out of which "Begani Naar", "Khol Botal" and "Dilli Ke Deewane" released in 2008. In 2009, the music video for the track "Get Up Jawani" was shot which later became a part of International Villager in 2011. Badshah split from Singh & "Mafia Mundeer" in 2011 citing credit related issues.^[30]

Badshah claims he, Ikka, Lil Golu, Raftaar and Honey Singh were part of the original "Mafia Mundeer". Singh denied these claims clarifying that Badshah is not a talent picked up from the streets and was instead just a client for him.^[31]

Singh stated that Raftaar, Ikka, Lil Golu all three were chosen by him. In 2009, Singh heard a track on Orkut which was uploaded by The Black Wall Street Desi's, the group which included Raftaar, Ikka and Lil Golu. Singh reached out to the three youngsters on Orkut and invited them to his studio in Okhla. Ikka recalls that the very first day the three of them met him, Singh showed them the music video of "Get Up Jawani". He further states that he was shocked and mesmerised at what the two had created while comparing it to what the three of them were doing at that time. Ikka quit the group after 6 months, being told by Raftaar that he had been kicked out by Honey Singh which was not true. While Lil Golu stood with Singh, Raftaar left the group in 2011, citing credit issues.^[32]

During 2010–11, several people from Punjab also joined the group including Alfaaz, Money Aujla, J Star, Leo Grewal, Ninja. Money Aujla and J Star featured on the tracks "Aashke" and "Gabru" respectively from Singh's International Villager album. Singh and Alfaaz first collabed together for the track "Haye Mera Dil" which featured a rap from Singh, in 2011 from Alfaaz's debut album Alfaaz – The Boy Next Door for which Singh composed the music and also did a feature rap on the tracks "Haye Mera Dil" and "Yaar Bathere". Singh also partnered up with Leo Grewal for Leo's debut single "Breakup Party" alongside Singh, which was written and composed by Singh. The group disbanded in 2012.

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Singh comes from a Sikh family and has two siblings. He was influenced by various musical genres, including hip-hop, Punjabi folk, and Indian classical music, which shaped his unique style. His early career included producing music for Bollywood films and independent albums, which gained him significant popularity.

On 23 January 2011, Singh married Shalini Talwar, a longtime girlfriend who Singh met during his tuition days. In November 2023, the couple were divorced after Talwar claimed she had suffered domestic violence. Singh denied the allegations, and Talwar withdrew the allegations after a divorce settlement.^[33] Reportedly, Singh paid over 1 crore rupees as alimony to his ex-wife.^[34]

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. Find sources: "Yo Yo Honey Singh" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

After overcoming significant health challenges, Singh made a comeback in 2018 with the track "Makhna", which re-established him as a prominent figure in the Indian music scene. The song was well-received, showcasing his ability to blend contemporary sounds with vibrant visuals. Following this, Singh released Urvashi later that same year, featuring Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani.

In 2019, he collaborated with Malkit Singh on "Gur Nalo Ishq Mitha - The YOYO Remake", demonstrating his versatility. The year 2020 marked a significant milestone with the release of "Loca", featuring Simar Kaur, and "Moscow Mashuka", featuring Neha Kakkar, both of which garnered substantial popularity. He also featured in "Billo Tu Agg Ae", a track by Singsta, and "Jingle Bell", expanding his musical repertoire.

Continuing his momentum, Singh released "First Kiss" in 2021, featuring Ipsitaa Khullar, followed by "Saiyaan Ji", a collaboration with Neha Kakkar, which became a hit. That same year, he was also part of "Kanta Laga", featuring Tony Kakkar and Neha Kakkar, and "Boom Boom", showcasing his ongoing presence in the music industry.

In 2023, Singh released "Kalaastar" as part of the Honey 3.0 album. The track is the sequel to his 2014 blockbuster track "Desi Kalakaar", starring Sonakshi Sinha and Singh, reprising their roles after a 9 years timeskip and broke multiple streaming records and was well received by audiences. He continued to build on his success with tracks like "Ka Kha Ga", "Pankhudi (The Ride Song)"",Designer", and "Casanova" featuring Lil Pump.

Later in 2023, Singh released several tracks as part of his album Honey 3.0, including "Naagan", "Tujh Pe Pyaar", "Savage" and "Kuley Kuley". Singh collaborated with his childhood rap inspiration Apache Indian (musician) on the track "Kuley Kuley". The track also garnered positive reviews and has since crossed 100+ million views on Zee Music Co. 's official YouTube channel. Singh on his Europe tour also performed with Apache Indian notably on the track "Arranged Marriage" by Apache, which was released back in 1993 and is also one of Singh's favourite songs of Apache even as far as Singh remembering the complete rap during their performance for which even Apache appreciated him.

In 2024, Singh launched his album Glory, featuring 18 tracks, including "Millionaire", "Payal", and "Jatt Mehkma". The album also saw Singh's return as a music producer with Leo Grewal as the lyricist and marked a significant milestone in his career receiving widespread acclaim, with multiple songs trending on music streaming platforms. The album consists of 10 different languages including Hindi, Punjabi language, English language, Haryanvi, Bhojpuri language, Spanish language, French language, Arabic, Sindhi language, and Balochi language. 6 out of the 10 languages are native to the Indian subcontinent. The album has since shattered many streaming records. The lead track "Millionaire" has crossed 350+ million views on YouTube and 150+ million streams on Spotify in just 8 months. The track "Jatt Mehkma" was Singh's debut as a director and was praised by the netizens. Singh was also praised for his music production and singing on the track "Payal" with Paradox being acclaimed for being the lyricist and rap artist with the music video starring Nora Fatehi which was shot in Tbilisi, Georgia (country). "Payal" has crossed over 270+ million views on YouTube. The Bonus track from Glory i.e. "MANIAC" also became a blockbuster as Singh was critically praised for his music production and composition skills for his way of blending Bhojpuri with Punjabi with netizens also appreciating him for representing Bhojpuri language on such a grand scale. "MANIAC" 's music video was also critically acclaimed being shot in Dubai, starring Singh and Esha Gupta and has since crossed over 130+ million views on YouTube.^[35]

In December 2024, Singh released the track "Hitman" alongside Bollywood actor Sonu Sood, for his movie Fateh (2025 film). The track is sung and composed by Singh himself while it's lyricists are Leo Grewal and Paradox who have closely worked with Singh on Glory album as well.^[36]

In 2025, Honey Singh announced his Millionaire India Tour in association with Aaj Tak, where he visited 10 cities across India, namely, Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi, Indore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Kolkata. The tour was a big success with tickets being sold out in minutes and the size of venues being increased of several different locations. Singh had a unique and grand entry at every venue with notably him ascending from the top through a cable during his Mumbai show opener.^[37]

In March 2025, Singh partnered up with Leo Grewal for a rap on the track "Shopping List" from Leo's album Leonization. The two have collaborated several times with the their very first collab back in 2012 for the chartbuster track "Breakup Party" for which Singh was both the lyricist and the composer. In 2023, The two reunited for the tracks "Can't Find Me" and "Sports Gaddiyan". Leo then worked as the lyricist for Singh, for the album Glory and was also featured in 2 different tracks i.e. "Shamaan De Vele" and "Fuck Them" alongside Singh on the album.^[38]

In December 2024, a documentary titled Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous was released on Netflix. The documentary received mixed reviews.^{[49][50][51][52]}

• 2010 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2010 for the song "Desi Daroo"^[53]
• 2011 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2011 for album The Folkstar^[54][55]
• 2012 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2012 for album I.V. (International Villager)^[56]
• 2012 BritAsia TV Music Awards 2012 – Best International Act^[57]
• 2012 UK Asian Music Awards Best International Album 2012 for Album album I.V. (International Villager)^[58]
• 2012 PTC Punjabi Film Award – Best Music Director 2012 for Mirza – The Untold Story^[59]
• 2012 PTC Punjabi Film Award – Best Debut (Male) for Mirza – The Untold Story^[59]
• 2013 MTV VMAI Awards – Best Indie Artist (male) 2013 for the song "Brown Rang"^[60]
• 2013 MTV EMA Awards – Best India Act 2013 for "Bring me Back"^[61]
• 2013 BIG Star Entertainment Awards – Singh was co-winner of Most Entertaining Singer (Male), and "Lungi Dance" was nominated as Most Entertaining Song.^[62]
• 2014 Zee Cine Awards 2014 for International Icon Male^[63]
• 2014 Stardust Awards – Best Music Director for Yaariyan
• 2016 Hindustan Times India's Most Stylish Awards – Most Stylish Singer
• 2018 Mirchi Music Awards – Listener's Choice Album of the Year for Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety and Listener's Choice Song of the Year for "Dil Chori"
• 2019 IIFA Award for Best Music Director for Best Performance by a music director for Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety

In the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, the lyrics to some of his songs, which depict misogyny caused controversy.^[64] 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.^[65] After the campaign, Singh's New Year concert was cancelled by the hotel.^[66] Singh denies writing such type of offensive lyrics. ^[67] Chandigarh High Court dismissed cases against Singh over such song. ^[68]

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 abusive 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 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.^[69]

His work has been criticised as being vulgar, promoting misogyny, offensive, promoting alcohol abuse and being a bad influence on youth.^[70][71] There have been reactions in print to Singh, such as from Annie Zaidi, who wrote "An Open Letter to Honey Singh" in January 2013,^[72] and Sandipan Sharma, who wrote "Thanks for the crassness: An open letter to Honey Singh from a parent" in July 2014.^[73]

In 2014, Singh and fellow rapper Raftaar were in dispute over whether Raftaar should receive credit for the lyrics of the song "Yeh Fugly Fugly Kya Hai".^[74]

In 2015, a student of St. Stephen's College went viral for a rap that parodied Singh's problematic songs from a feminist perspective.^[75][76]

In 2021, Shalini Talwar, Honey Singh's wife filed a case against him in Tis Hazari Court for domestic violence and sexual abuse against, claiming mental and physical torture and sexual violence by the singer along with several martial affairs.^[77]

• Desi Kalakaar
• An Open Letter to Honey Singh

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yo Yo Honey Singh.

• Yo Yo Honey Singh at IMDb
• Yo Yo Honey Singh discography at Discogs