Hirdesh Singh (born 15 March 1983), known professionally as Yo Yo Honey Singh, or simply Honey Singh, is an Indian music producer, and actor.
Hirdesh Singh was born in Karampura, New Delhi on 15 March 1983 into a Punjabi Sikh family to parents Sardaar Sarabjit Singh and Bhupinder Kaur.
Singh's mother is from Hoshiarpur, Punjab and his father is a refugee from Punjab, Pakistan, who eventually moved and settled in New Delhi during Partition.
Singh has a sister, Sneha Singh.
Singh prefers to sing in his native language Punjabi and Hindi rather than English.
2003
He started in 2003 as a session and recording artist, and became a bhangra and hip hop, Punjabi music producer.
2011
The Punjabi album International Villager was released on 11 November 2011.
The track "Gabru" from the album, featuring singer J-Star, topped the Asian music charts, including the official BBC Asian charts.
He has performed at many college festivals, including Ansal Institute of Technology and Ramjas College, Delhi.
Singh and Diljit Dosanjh's song "Lak 28 Kudi Da" reached number one in the BBC Asian Download Charts in May 2011.
The song was released as a promotional track for Dosanjh's film Lion of Punjab.
Singh married Shalini Talwar on 23 January 2011.
Talwar has accused the rapper of multiple offenses under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.
Delhi's Tis Hazari Court had issued notice to Singh and sought his response.
On 10 September 2022, the couple filed for divorce, and Singh reportedly paid Rs.
1 crore as alimony.
2012
It was reported that he was paid the highest fee ever for a Bollywood song (as of 2012) of inr 7000000 for a song in the films Cocktail and Mastan.
Singh topped the chart of trending videos in 2012.
He earned two places on YouTube's list of top 10 trending videos of 2012.
His song "Brown Rang" made it to the top spot.
"High Heels", in collaboration with Jaz Dhami, took the fourth spot.
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 song artist in Bollywood to date, making Singh one of the highest-paid musical artists in Bollywood.
Singh made his acting debut with Baljit Singh Deo's Punjabi film Mirza - The Untold Story (2012), performing the role of Deesha, a mad gangster.
Despite only being a cameo appearance, the role went on to win Singh 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.
This was Singh's first main role in a film.
In the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, the lyrics to some of his songs, which depict violence against women and rape positively, have caused controversy.
A first information report (FIR) was lodged against Singh for his offensive 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.
Singh denies writing these offensive lyrics.
Singh's song "Party All Night" in Akshay Kumar's film Boss was at the centre of a controversy.
Producers of the movie had to submit a petition in Delhi High Court claiming that they had 'muted' an alleged vulgar word in Singh's song.
2015
In February 2015 he released the songs "Birthday Bash", 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 Yo Yo Honey Singh, with lyrics and vocals by Singh and Hommie Dilliwala.
2016
In 2016, Singh starred in the Punjabi action film Zorawar, directed by Vinnil Markan, which was marketed as one of the most expensive Punjabi films to date.
