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6 June 1988
Neha Kakkar was born in a very poor family of Rishikesh. Neha was the youngest among three siblings. Sonu Kakkar (singer) and Tony Kakkar (singer-composer) were elder to him. The father had no permanent job to earn his living. He lived in a 10 by 10 rented room in Rishikesh with his wife Niti Kakkar and 3 children. Such was the state of poverty that there was not even a kitchen in the house. Mother would keep a table in the same room and cook food on it. Everyone used to sit, sleep, play in the same room.
Picture of Neha Kakkar’s house in Rishikesh.
Neha was just 4 years old when her father shifted to Delhi in search of livelihood. He started selling samosas outside a small school. Elder sister Sonu studied in the same school. In school, she was made fun of because of her father’s work, which made her cry a lot.
When it became difficult for the family to survive, the father started singing in Jagrata along with elder daughter Sonu Kakkar. Father was fond of writing, so he himself used to write songs for Jagrata.
With time, brother Tony and then at the age of 4, Neha also started singing in Jagrata to help her father financially.
The whole family used to go to Jagrata by rickshaw. He started getting Rs 500 for every Jagrata and the conditions at home also became better. With time the father took a van for travelling. Whenever he would stay awake all night, the father would open the rear seat of the van and spread mattresses for the children there, so that the children could get rest.
Neha Kakkar, who once lost her childhood for a few rupees, is 38 years old and is a singing star. On the special occasion of Neha’s birthday, take a look at the inspiring story of her life-
See selected pictures of Neha Kakkar from Jagrata in her childhood-
Recalling her childhood days in an episode of Indian Idol, Neha had said-
I started singing at the age of 4. There was no time limit at that time. Jagratas sometimes started from night till morning and we used to sing continuously. People did not even praise us, there were times when we could not go to school because of singing all night.
Pan hit brother in the thigh during a fight
Neha Kakkar, even though she stayed away from studies, was at the top in mischief. Sonu was older than him, but since the age difference was less than Tony, both of them used to fight a lot. The Kakkar brothers and sisters, who came to The Kapil Sharma Show, told that after an argument, Neha attacked brother Tony’s thighs with a pan in such a way that half of the pan entered his thigh.
Neha Kakkar’s picture with elder brother Tony.
At the age of 5, he won a music competition by competing with his elders.
Neha Kakkar participated in a musical contest held in Rishikesh at the age of just 5 years. There was no age limit in that competition, so 5 year old Neha had to compete with people 16-17 and older. Little Neha then sang the song Maine Pyaar Tumhi Se Kiya Hai from the then-new film Phool Aur Kaante. Neha not only gave a tough competition to the elders with her melodious voice, but also won the competition. Later she also started singing in weddings and events.
Once Neha-Sonu got a chance to sing at a Bade Jagran, in which Asha Bhosle had performed just before them.
Relatives and neighbors taunted the children for missing the song.
With time, Neha-Sonu started getting a lot of work for Bhajan Sandhya and Jagrata. Apart from Delhi and Rishikesh, she used to go to perform in many northern cities including Chandigarh, due to which her studies were not able to be done properly. At one time, the household started running solely on the children’s earnings, due to which the neighbors and relatives used to taunt their parents a lot.
Sonu Kakkar got the song ‘Babu Ji Zara Dheere Chalo’ after the reality show.
After gaining a strong foothold in singing in Delhi, elder sister Sonu Kakkar won Mumbai’s singing reality show Popstar in 2003. The judge of that show, Sandeep Chautwa, liked Sonu’s voice so much that as soon as the show ended, he called him to his office and offered him the song ‘Babu Ji Zara Dheere Chalo…’ from the film ‘Dum’. In a short time, Sonu made a strong hold in the music industry and gave many hit songs.
Reached Mumbai with brother at the age of 16
Amidst the increasing popularity of Sonu, Neha Kakkar came to Mumbai at the age of 16 with her brother Tony to pursue a career in music. Tony Kakkar was fond of composition, so he started learning to work as a lyricist with composer Sandeep Chautwa, while Neha used to audition in many singing reality shows. Then she was in 11th class. After a year long struggle, he was selected in Indian Idol Season 2.
Neha Kakkar at Indian Idol audition.
Sonu Nigam, who was judging the audition, told Neha that her voice was sounding stuck. However, after troubling them for a while, they were called Golden World, ‘You are coming to Mumbai.’
Neha Kakkar was only 16 years old while doing Indian Idol-2.
Neha had said in the show that she wants to become as famous as Abhijeet Sawant, the winner of Indian Aid-1. Neha’s journey was wonderful, but she was eliminated from the show at number 10. However, now Neha Kakkar herself is one of the favorite judges of Indian Eden due to her talent and hard work.
Neha Kakkar has judged 5 seasons of Indian Idol.
The winner of Indian Idol 2 was Sandeep Acharya, who died of jaundice in 2013 at the age of just 29.
Despite losing Indian Aidan, Neha did not give up and released her own musical album ‘Neha: The Rockstar’. This album was a hit and Neha further made Romeo Juliet music album, which was composed by her brother Tony Kakkar.
After the album became a hit, Neha got the song ‘Hi Rama’ from ‘Mirabai Not Out’ (2008), which she sang with Sukhwinder.
Feature in AR Rahman’s song, got recognition from the song of TV show
Apart from singing, Neha Kakkar has also tried her hand in acting. She appeared in the chorus of the title song of the film Blue. Apart from this, she has been seen in the film Isi Life Mein (2010). He worked with Kapil Sharma and Ali Azgar in Comedy Circus Ke Tansen. She has also appeared in many Kannada and Telugu songs.
In 2009, Neha Kakkar gave voice to the title song of the TV show ‘Na Aana Is Desh Laado’, which got her a lot of recognition.
Neha Kakkar lent her voice to the song ‘Nodu Bare’ from the Kannada film ‘Thamassu’, for which she was nominated for Best Female Playback Singer at the South Filmfare Award.
Neha got a big singing break from Deepika’s film
Neha Kakkar got her big break with the song Second Hand Jawaani from the 2012 film Cocktail. The song was a hit and Neha Kakkar made a name for herself in the industry and gave many hit songs one after the other.
Neha’s singing career was named after many controversies-
Accusations of obscenity on Prague song-
In the year 2013, Neha Kakkar gave voice to the song Bottle Khol from the film Prague. The Censor Board had objected to it due to obscene and double meaning lyrics. This song was in a lot of controversies.
Melbourne concert controversy (2025)- Neha reportedly arrived late by 2 hours at a concert in Melbourne, Australia. Viewers were outraged and criticized on social media. Neha and her brother Tony Kakkar blamed poor arrangements for the event, while the organizers instead accused Neha’s team of unprofessional behavior and demanded compensation.
Accusation of obscenity on the song ‘Candy Shop/Lollipop’- There was a big controversy on social media regarding the lyrics and a dance step of Neha and Tony Kakkar’s song “Candy Shop” (Lollipop). Many people considered the dance steps done by Neha as obscene and against Indian culture.
Video of pouring water on oneself during stage performance-
The video of Neha performing by pouring water on herself during a live show went viral. Social media was divided on this, some people considered it entertainment, while others called it unnecessary and inflammatory.
Trolling for getting emotional in reality show- Neha has been a judge of the singing reality show Indian Aidan for years. Neha was seen crying emotionally in many episodes. Some viewers considered it to be a genuine sentiment, while some trolled it as “overdramatic”.
Criticism regarding remix songs-
Neha has sung remixes of many old popular songs. Which includes dozens of songs like Kaanta Laga, Chamma Chamma and Tip Tip Barsa Paani. Neha gets trolled a lot on remix songs. In 2022, Neha sang Falguni Pathak’s song Maine Payal Hai Chhankai, on which the original singer not only criticized it fiercely but also called it harmful for the history of music.
Relationship, breakup, depression and marriage-
Made the relationship official on national television, then suddenly broke up.
Neha Kakkar was in a relationship with actor Himansh Kohli since 2014. Both of them met during the shooting of the film Yaariyan. Himansh was the hero of the film and Neha lent her voice to the film’s song Aaj Blue Hai Paani-Pani.
Both of them made their relationship official on national television in the reality show Indian Idol in 2018 and also announced that they will get married soon. However, after just 3 months, Neha suddenly broke up with Himansh and announced it on social media.
In 2018, both were seen together in the music video O Humsafar.
Neha Kakkar remained in depression after breakup
Some time after the breakup, Neha Kakkar was seen crying on the sets of Indian Idol on several occasions after listening to the songs. In January 2019, Neha Kakkar confessed to depression on official Instagram and said that she is going through the most difficult time of her life and is in depression. He also had anxiety problems.
Show’s contestant Rohanpreet proposed for marriage while drunk
Neha Kakkar married Rohanpreet in 2020. Actually, Rohanpreet was a contestant of the singing reality show Rising Star in 2018. He was also the runner-up of the show. After this, Rohanpreet liked Neha during the shooting of a song. He asked for Neha’s Snapchat ID and a conversation started between the two. One day Rohanpreet gathered courage and proposed to her, but Neha clearly refused saying that she does not want to get into any relationship, her focus is towards marriage. Rohan was only 25 years old and was not ready for marriage. Ultimately, it didn’t work out.
His conversation with Rohanpreet stopped. Then, after a few months, one day Rohanpreet drunkenly called Neha and said that he could not live without her. They should get married soon. Neha thought that whatever he was saying while drunk would be forgotten the next day, but it did not happen. Rohan came to meet her and then proposed marriage.
Marriage was considered a publicity stunt
Amidst the news of Neha’s marriage, her song Nehu The Vyah was announced. At that time everyone believed that the news of marriage was just a publicity stunt. However, Neha Kakkar got married on the day of the song release.
See selected pictures of the wedding-
Pregnancy rumors spread due to song
Just like Neha announced a song before marriage, similarly, after a few months of marriage, Neha announced another song, in which she was seen with baby bump. Everyone thought that she was pregnant, for which another song was made, although later the singer clarified that this getup is only for the song.
Sister broke the relationship, there was a huge dispute
In April 2025, Sonu Kakkar announced the end of the relationship with Neha and Tony by sharing a post from the official social media account. Since then, Sonu was seen missing from all the family events.
Was in news due to divorce news
In the beginning of 2026, Neha Kakkar also shared a post saying that she is taking a break from all relationships. Since then the news of their divorce came into the headlines. The discussion grew so much that Neha herself clarified on this and appealed that her husband and family should not be dragged into her statement.
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