(Apologies for the hiatus, the result of a series of unavoidable circumstances). 

Last month, when I posted a solos list as a tribute to Asha Bhonsle, a couple of blog readers asked me if I would be posting one (or more) follow-up posts. After all when Lata Mangeshkar passed away, I ended up publishing five posts, a total of fifty songs showcasing the solos Lata had sung with fifty different music directors or music director pairs. Surely Asha merited something similar? Yes, indeed she does, but I personally think Asha’s most stunning solos were sung for a handful of composers like OP Nayyar and SD Burman during the 1950s and 60s. She did sing songs for a wide range of music directors, but I find a lot of those songs relatively forgettable.

I decided therefore to focus this post on another aspect of Asha’s career: her duets: Romantic, funny, flirtatious, poignant—and so much more. Songs where her voice merged with that of a co-singer to create magic.