Legendary singer Kishore Kumar was born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly in a Bengali family in Khandwa on 4 August 1929. He was the youngest of four siblings. He earned his graduation degree from the Christian College in Indore. After his oldest brother Ashok Kumar gained stardom in Hindi cinema, the entire family shifted to Mumbai.

Kumar’s career began as a chorus singer with Bombay Talkies, where his older brother worked. Shikari (1946) was his first movie as an actor; Ashok Kumar played the lead. After this, his initial films did not do very well until he nailed it with his comic hero roles in movies like New Delhi (1956), Half Ticket (1962), and many more. He worked as an actor in many films that are considered classics today. However, the multi-talented Kumar was yet to see the peak of success as a singer. He developed a unique singing style which is still imitated by current popular singers.

In 1969, Kishore Kumar got an opportunity to work with young R D Burman for the film Aradhana (1969), after S D Burman fell ill. Solo songs ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani’ and ‘Roop Tera Mastana’, which won a Filmfare Award, were sung by Kumar and became instant hits. They are known to be classics today. During 1970s and 1980s, he lent his voice to many hit songs for several well-known actors, young and old, in the film industry.

Some of his most popular films during this era were Andaz (1971), Kati Patang (1971), Amar Prem (1972), Dost (1974), Faraar (1975), Anurodh (1977), Kaala Patthar (1979), Karz (1980), and Sharaabi (1984). His award winning songs appeared in movies like Amanush (1978), Don (1978), Thodisi Bewafaii (1980), Namak Halaal (1982), and Saagar (1985). In total, he won seven Filmfare Awards for his songs.

Besides Hindi, he has sung in other Indian languages like Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Assamese, Odia, Kannada and Malayalam.

Kumar married four times, first with Ruma Ghosh, whom he had his son Amit Kumar with, then the legendary actress Madhubala, then the actress Yogeeta Bali and finally, actress Leena Chandavarkar with whom he had son Sumit Kumar. He was known to be eccentric in his personal life, with a number of amusing anecdotes from his co-workers.

In the 1980s, Kumar decided to retire and return to his birthplace Khandwa. However, on 13 October 1987, which also happened to be his oldest brother Ashok Kumar's 76th birthday, he suffered a heart attack in Mumbai and passed away. Several of his movies have been released posthumously, of which the most recent is Love in Bombay (2013). Directed and produced by Joy Mukherjee, it was discovered by his son after 42 years.

Kishore Kumar’s legacy still lives on strong. The Madhya Pradesh government initiated an award titled the "Kishore Kumar Award" in order to recognise contributions to Hindi cinema. A biopic about his life directed by Anurag Basu and starring Ranbir Kapoor, is also currently underway.