Yo Yo Honey Singh

Hirdesh "Honey" Singh, 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, working as a session and recording artist within the underground music scene until the release of his debut studio album, International Villager.

Early life

Honey Singh was born in Delhi, India, on 15 March 1983 to a Sikh family from Hoshiarpur, Punjab. He studied at the Guru Nanak Public School in New Delhi.

Career

Music

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. His collaborations with prominent artists, like Diljit Dosanjh, further cemented his position. Their song "Lak 28 Kudi Da" reached number one on the BBC Asian Download Charts in May 2011, serving as a promotional track for Dosanjh's film Lion of Punjab.
By 2012, Singh set a record for the highest fee ever paid to an artist for a Bollywood song, reportedly receiving ₹7 million rupees for tracks in the movies Cocktail and Mastan. He sang his first Hindi song in Mastan.
His popularity surged on YouTube with two of his videos— "Brown Rang" and "High Heels" —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 and "Love Dose".
The title track featured Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha in its accompanying music video. He released the song "Birthday Bash" in February 2015.
In 2024, Singh launched his album Glory, featuring 18 tracks, including "Millionaire", "Rap God", and "Jatt Mehkma". This album marked a significant milestone in his career and received widespread acclaim, with multiple songs trending on music streaming platforms.
In December 2024, a documentary titled Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous was released on Netflix. The documentary received mixed reviews.
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.

Bollywood

His debut song in Bollywood films was "Shakal Pe Mat Ja", featuring Gagan Sidhu. 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.
In February 2015 he released the songs "Birthday Bash" with Alfaaz, followed by songs in films including Gabbar Is Back and Bhaag Johnny.
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.

Acting

Singh made his acting debut with a cameo appearance in Baljit Singh Deo's Punjabi film Mirza - The Untold Story, 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.

Personal life

On 23 January 2011, Singh married Shalini Talwar, a longtime friend. In November 2023, the couple were divorced after Talwar claimed she had suffered domestic violence. Singh denied the allegations, and Talwar withdrew them after the divorce was settled.

Selected discography

Albums

Title	Producer	Writer	Label	Language	Release date
International Villager	Yo Yo Honey Singh,	Various	Speed Records	Punjabi	11 November 2011
Desi Kalakaar	Yo Yo Honey Singh,	Yo Yo Honey Singh, Lil Golu	T-Series	Punjabi/Hindi	26 September 2014
Honey 3.0	Yo Yo Honey Singh, Bass Yogi, Hommie Dilliwala, Sanjoy	Yo Yo Honey Singh, Rony Ajnali, Gill Macchari	Zee Music Company	Punjabi/Hindi	15 March 2024
Glory	Yo Yo Honey Singh	Various	T-Series	Various languages	26 August 2024
51 Glorious Days	Yo Yo Honey Singh	Various	T-Series	Various languages	26 September 2025
-	Yo Yo Honey Singh	-	-	-	-

Singles

Appearances on film soundtracks

Production discography

Filmography

Movies

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2012	Mirza - The Untold Story	Deesha	Punjabi
2013	Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22	Rolly	Punjabi
2014	The Xpose	Kenny Damania	Hindi
2016	Zorawar	Agent Zorawar Singh	Punjabi

Television

Year	Show	Channel	Role
2014	India's Raw Star	Star Plus	Judge

Awards

2010 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2010 for the song "Desi Daroo"
2011 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2011 for album The Folkstar
2012 PTC Punjabi Best Music Director 2012 for album I.V.
2012 BritAsia TV Music Awards 2012 – Best International Act
2012 UK Asian Music Awards Best International Album 2012 for Album album I.V.
2012 PTC Punjabi Film Award – Best Music Director 2012 for Mirza – The Untold Story
2012 PTC Punjabi Film Award – Best Debut for Mirza – The Untold Story
2013 MTV VMAI Awards – Best Indie Artist 2013 for the song "Brown Rang"
2013 MTV EMA Awards – Best India Act 2013 for "Bring me Back"
2013 BIG Star Entertainment Awards – Singh was co-winner of Most Entertaining Singer, and "Lungi Dance" was nominated as Most Entertaining Song.
2014 Zee Cine Awards 2014 for International Icon Male
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''
Controversies

Singh's work has been criticised as being vulgar, misogynist, offensive and racist promoting violence against women along with promoting alcohol abuse and drugs and a bad influence on youth. There have been reactions in print to Singh, such as from Annie Zaidi, who wrote "An Open Letter to Honey Singh" in January 2013, and Sandipan Sharma, who wrote "Thanks for the crassness: An open letter to Honey Singh from a parent" in July 2014.
In the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, a song "Main Hoon Balatkari" became popular in the city, its lyrics glorifying rape. The song was attributed to Singh, although he denied having sung or written the song. A first information report was lodged against Singh for the song's lyrics, and a group of social activists filed an online petition demanding cancellation of his New Year performance at a Gurgaon hotel. After the campaign, Singh's New Year concert was cancelled by the hotel. A case was dismissed by Chandigarh High Court who found no proof that Singh was its singer.
Singh's song "Party All Night" in Akshay Kumar's 2013 film Boss was at the centre of a controversy for a "vulgar" word in its lyrics, with a petition filed to stay the release of the film until the word or the song was removed. Producers of the movie submitted a petition in Delhi High Court claiming to have "muted" the word. Singh denied that the word was vulgar, saying that people "must have heard it wrongly".
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".
In 2015, a student of St. Stephen's College went viral for a rap that parodied Singh's problematic songs from a feminist perspective.
In 2021, Honey Singh's wife Shalini Talwar filed a case against him in Tis Hazari Court for domestic violence. Talwar accused Singh of "numerous incidents of physical abuse, verbal, mental abuse and emotional abuse", and accused him of adultery.