Born Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi on February 4,1922 to an orthodox schoolteacher in Gadag in Karnataka, Bhimsen was so crazy about music that when his father disapproved of his interest, he ran away at 11 in search of a guru. Wiser counsel prevailed upon both father and son and he returned home three years later to learn with Sawai Gandharva from 1936, perfoming live for the first time at 19 and cutting his debut album with a mix of Kannada and Hindi devotional songs in 1942. Today, he conducts the annual Sawai Gandharva Music Festival in honour of his guru in Pune, and his son Srinivas Joshi is also a vocalist and composer.

The Pandit has been hailed by both critics and masses for his accurate notes (that make his expositions reference points for the raags), fast taans and mastery over rhythm. He has also excelled in Marathi abhang (including classics like Indraayani kaathi, Dnyaaniyaanchaa raja and Maazhe maaher Pandhari), Kannada and Hindi devotional music, acted as a hero in the play Bhagyashri and is said to be blessed with a vocal range of all three octaves.

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi also dabbled in playback singing in Hindi movies in special cases that called for his artistry, like the duet Ketaki gulab juhi with Manna Dey in Basant Bahar under Shankar-Jaikishan and two songs in in Amol Palekar’s Ankahee under Jaidev’s baton. He also opened the famous National Integration video Mile sur mera tumhara.