Harcharanjit Singh Rupal (born 12 January 1952) , known professionally as Channi Singh, is a British-Indian bhangra musician, known as the "godfather" of bhangra in the West.

Career

Channi is the co-founder, lead singer, producer, and director of Alaap. He came from Malerkotla, Punjab to the UK in 1975 and gradually started the popularity of Punjabi music among the Punjabi youth in the UK, forming the Alaap group in 1977 with Harjeet Gandhi, Randhir Sahota, and Inder Kalsi. By using both Western and Punjabi folk instruments, the group produced a new and more modern style in Punjabi music, later known as UK Bhangra. Alaap has performed with UB40 and performed at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

in United States, Al-Nasir Indoor Stadium in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, and

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The band was described as ‘Simply the Best’ by the Gurkhas in

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He has also performed in Canada, Australia and other countries. In 1992, Alaap became the first British Asian band to perform in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Awards and recognition

Singh has received is the Lifetime Achievement for Punjabi music from the

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, Mary Draycott, at the 13th anniversary celebrations of

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

's Punjabi Programme. He was the first singer ever to be given the lifetime achievement award by BBC. Channi Singh was the first British Asian to be appointed as an honorary Senior Lecturer of Music at Liverpool University. He has composed music for Feroz Khan's films and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films such as ''

Yalgaar ''Yalgaar'' is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language action crime thriller film directed by Feroz Khan (actor), Feroz Khan. The film stars Khan himself, Sanjay Dutt, Kabir Bedi, Nagma, Manisha Koirala, Vicky Arora, Mukesh Khanna, Deepti Naval and Neena ...

'', '' Shaktimaan'', '' Janasheen'' and ''Top less''. Singh was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to bhangra music, charity and the community in

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

. In mid 2012, Channi signed a worldwide publishing deal with independent music publishers Fairwood Music. In 2017, he was awarded "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the

Brit Asia TV Music Awards The Brit Asia TV Music Awards, also known as Brit Asia TV World Music Awards or the abbreviation BAMA, is an awards show that has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 2010 (except in 2016), usually in October. The awards show is produce ...

Discography

Films

*''

'' (1992) *''

Shaktiman Shaktiman may refer to: * Shaktiman truck * Shaktiman (horse) * Shaktiman (1993 film) * Shaktiman (2024 film) * Shaktimaan (franchise) ** Shaktimaan a TV show ** Shaktimaan: The Animated Series {{Dab ...

'' (1993) *''Teri Mohabbat Ke Naam'' (1999) *'' Janasheen'' (2003) *''Top Less'' *'' Mr. Bhatti on Chutti (2012)

Albums

*''Alaap - The Greatest Hits'' - A 4-CD Set by Moviebox

References