Mukesh was born on 22 July 1923 in a middle class family of Punjab. He was the sixth in a family of ten children. From 1950 to 1970, he was one of the three leading male playback singers of bollywood alongwith Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. Mukesh was not so good at studies and therefore left school after the 10th standard.

Mukesh got married to Sarla Trivedi, who was actually daughter of millionaire Gujrati family. Mukesh’s magical voice was first noticed by a popular actor of that time named Motilal. Mukesh started his career as an actor in the film titled Nirdosh in 1941. However, he also sang a song for the same film ‘Dil hi bhuja hua ho’.

His first break as a playback singer was in the movie Pehli Nazar starred Motilal in it. He sang the famous ‘Dil jalta hai to jalne de‘ in the movie. His voice was most suited to legendary actor Raj Kapoor. He received National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song ‘Kain baar yoon bhi dekhaa hai’ from Rajnigandha. His first Filmfare Award was for the song ‘Sab kuch seekha humne’ in the movie Anari. Mukesh died of a heart attack on 27 August 1976. His grandson Neil Nitin Mukesh made his debut last year with the movie Johnny Gaddar.

some of his best bollywood songs in the films are :

1. Kabhie kabhie mere dil mein khayal aata hai ki jaise tujhko banaya gaya hai mere liye - Kabhie Kabhie
2. Sub kuch seekha humne naa sikhi hoshiyaari, sach hai duniya waalon ki hum hain anari - Anari
3. Dost dost naa raha pyaar pyaar naa raha zindagi hamein tera aitbaar na raha - Sangam
4. Hothon pe sacchai rehti hai aur dil mein safai rehti hai hum us des ke waasi hai - Jis Des Mein Ganga Behti Hai
5. Sawan ka mahina pawan kare shor, jiya ra re jhoome aise jaise man ma naache mor - Milan
6. Ek pyaar ka nagma hai - Shor
7. Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon pal do pal meri kahani hai - Kabhie Kabhie
8. Main naa bhoolunga in rasmon ko in kasmon ko in riste naaton ko - Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
9. Ek din bik jaayega maati ke mol jag mein reh jaayenge pyaare tere bol - Dharam Karam
10. Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye saanjh ki dulhan nazar churaye chupke se aaye - Anand