Momtaz Begum
Momtaz Begum is a Bangladeshi folk singer and politician. She served as the member of parliament representing the Manikganj-2 constituency from 2014-2025 and Reserved Women's Seat-21 from 2009–2013.
Referred to as "The Music Queen", she has recorded around 700 albums. Some of her notable works include Return Ticket, Ashol Boithoki, Murshider Talim, and Ronger Bazar.
Begum won the Bangladesh [National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer] three times for the films Nekabborer Mohaproyan, Swatta and Maya: The Lost Mother. In 2021, she earned a controversial honorary doctorate degree from Global Human Peace University in Tamil Nadu, India.
Early life
Begum was born on 5 May 1961 in the village of Joymontop in Singair, in Manikganj to Uzala Begum and Modhu Boyati, a baul singer. She spent most of her childhood learning music from her father. She also took lessons from Razzak Dewan and Abdur Rashid Sorkar.Begum's initiation into music occurred early. She was a child when she accompanied her father, first as an audience member, and soon after a co-performer. The kind of music she performed like, Marfati, Boithoki, and Murshidi can roughly be categorized in the mystic songs genre.
Career
Initially Begum released albums entirely financed by herself. After these became popular she was hired by producers to make further recordings, though her payment was usually a very low flat fee and the contract stipulated that this would have to be paid back if these did not sell well. However, her musical works are tended to sell out almost immediately and within a very short period, she found herself quite busy; often recording two songs per day. In an interview with the Bangladeshi daily Daily Star (Bangladesh)|Daily Star] she stated: "I used to be handed down the lyrics and the music tracks minutes before and there used to be hardly any time for rehearsal and I had to record it at all in one go".Begum was elected as a member of parliament from Manikganj-2 in 2008, 2014 and 2018. But she lost national assembly election in 2024 from the same constituency.