I'm in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Jimmy Page gave me the MOJO Maverick award. I got an Ivor Novella Award for my very first song.
I wanted to grow up to be George and Ira Gershwin from the age of about six.
Quincy Jones' autobiography 'Q' is very good. Because he's a master at music, he's one of our greatest composers, and its good for him to have a book and tell the good ole days when he was with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan and Ray Charles.
One of my dreams is to work with Ilaiyaraaja sir and do more with Anirudh and Santhosh Narayanan.
I am extremely lucky I have done so many songs with Lata Mangeshkar.
In my opinion, the biggest achievement was by Shankar-Jaikishan. With Raj Kapoor's 'Barsaat,' they changed the way we looked at playback singing.
If somebody says, 'Well, what are your favorite composers?' really, what they are saying is, 'What are your favorite composers apart from Bach?' Because obviously, Bach is your favorite composer if you are involved in music at all.
I like works by Bryan Adams and Mariah Carey, among others.
The Songwriters Hall of fame, that's the one all the big-time writers get into, the really great stuff, the Broadway stuff and all that. That would be something, to get your name in there.
It is the responsibility of music composers to add some classical music elements into their songs to make the music genre popular.
I feel very lucky that I got to work with Lata Mangeshkar, Asha didi and many more in the 1980s.
I would love to work with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, because I love their music and they are responsible for a lot of incredible stuff.
Know the names of past and current artists who are most famous for playing their instruments.
Hindi film songs are the best of everything - whether it is lyrics, melody and talented singers.
I got my first break in 'Bhootnath,' solely on my credit, and went on to sing for around 20 films for all the leading music composers.
The songwriters whom we think of being the greatest songwriters usually write one hit and six or seven flops. That includes the Irving Berlins and the Hoagy Carmichaels, the Harold Arlens, Cole Porter.
I am a big fan of A.R. Rahman and Mani Sharma, and I went to a shop to buy these music directors' CD. But I had only Rs 100, and Rahman's CD cost more, so I couldn't buy both. So I bought Rahman's CD and stole Mani Sharma's CD.
The producers and writers of dance music are becoming the stars, not so much the DJs.
My father Apresh Lahiri and mother Bansari Lahiri were great composers of their time.
Then on to all the terrific american songwriters, from Tin Pan Alley to the Beatles, from Bob Dylan to Paul Simon. Whoever wrote and sang in the song form I have appreciated.
Beethoven I take twice a week, Haydn four times, and Mozart every day.
I want more of my favorite artists or more of the guy that makes the anthems. I want more.
Film music has a great history of composers and performers.
If there is place for music that I do in Bollywood, then I would surely like to sing a song in a Hindi film.
Singers are definitely getting their due in Bollywood. I feel that music composers, on the other hand, tend to lose out on the popularity, fame, and success that singers usually enjoy.
