About
Kailash Kher, born 7 July 1973, is one of India's most popular singers and composers, whose music blends Indian folk and Sufi traditions with pop-rock and spiritual influences. The son of a traditional folk singer, he left home at fourteen to pursue music. He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2017.
Kher rose to fame with Allah Ke Bande and formed his band Kailasa in 2004 with the Kamath brothers, whose album track Teri Deewani became a defining Sufi-fusion anthem. He has recorded songs in more than twenty languages, sung for films from Baahubali to Bollywood, and given over a thousand concerts worldwide. He runs the Kailasa Foundation for underprivileged children and continues to release devotional and Sufi work.
The artistry
Kher sings with a raw, high-pitched, soulful voice suited to Sufi and folk mysticism, backed by his band Kailasa's fusion of traditional instruments and modern rock. He works across ghazal, Sufi, qawwali, folk and devotional forms in more than twenty languages.
Repertoire
Performance
Publications & productions
Career & milestones
Festivals & appearances
Lineage & training
Recognition
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Gallery
Kailash Kher connects on the Culture Atlas graph to the Sufi Music artform profile (the primary tradition his vocal style draws from), to the Manganiyar & Langa artform (Rajasthani folk influence), and to Mumbai as his primary professional base. His work represents one of the most commercially successful uses of devotional music aesthetics in Indian popular culture.
Kailash Kher represents the transmission of Sufi and folk devotional aesthetics into mainstream Indian popular music. His success demonstrated that a voice rooted in genuine devotional tradition could find a mass commercial audience without abandoning the essential character of that tradition.