Wadkar was born inKolhapur in a middle-class family that soon moved toGirangaon. His father Ishwar Wadkar worked in cloth mills and his mother cooked food for the mill workers.[4] In youth, he wrestled at akhadas and frequented the Talwalkar gym with his father, who was also a wrestler.[5]
In 1968, when Wadkar was 13,Jialal Vasant encouraged him to work towards the "Prabhakar" certificate offered by the Prayag Sangit Samiti, because it was equivalent to a BEd and qualifies the awardee to teach professionally. Wadkar successfully completed his "Prabhakar" and joined Arya Vidya Mandir inMumbai as a music teacher.[4]
Though groomed for Indian classical music, Wadkar entered the Sur-Singar competition in 1976. He won the competition which was judged by composers from the Indian film industry includingJaidev andRavindra Jain.[4] Ravindra Jain introduced him to the world of playback singing, and Wadkar sang Jain's compositionSona Kare Jhilmil Jhilmil Vrishti Pade Tapur Tupur in the filmPaheli (1977).[6] Jaidev also offered him the song "Seene Mein Jalan" in the filmGaman (1978).[5]
At the time,Lata Mangeshkar was so impressed with his voice that she strongly recommended him to film personalities includingLaxmikant–Pyarelal,Khayyam andKalyanji-Anandji.[7] Laxmikant-Pyarelal, impressed with his voice, soon recorded a duet with Lata, "Chal Chameli Bagh Mein" forKrodhi (1981).[5] Soon after, he was given the opportunity to perform for songs inHum Paanch,Pyaasa Sawan ("Megha Re Megha Re") and above all, his turning point in films –Raj Kapoor'sPrem Rog (1982).[5] After that, Wadkar sang many songs under theR. K. Banner, and he often gave his voice forRishi Kapoor inHenna,Prem Granth,Bol Radha Bol,Vijay and others. He also sang forRajiv Kapoor inRam Teri Ganga Maili. Two of his most famous songs are "Tum Se Milke" fromParinda (1989) and "Aye Zindagi Gale Laga Le" fromSadma (1983) and "Gori Sapno me hai" from Insaaf ki Manzil (1988). Wadkar sang his first Tamil song in the 2009 filmKanden Kadhalai, an adaptation of the Hindi blockbusterJab We Met. The song is a ghazal type song called "Naan Mozhi Arindhaen". He has sung numerous devotional songs in various Indian languages for many denominations including manyVaishnav andShaivite sampradayas such as theSwaminarayan Sampradaya. In 1996, Wadkar sangChanneache Rati among several other songs in Rajendra Talak's Konkani albumDaryachya Deger withAsha Bhosle.
In 2002, Wadkar produced the film "Tanman.com".[8] In 2003, he collaborated with arist Shivanand (Udayraj A. Gadnis) onCosmic Raga Mandal project.[9] He was a judge on the Indian TV singing showSa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs and at the 2005 Sangeet Awards.[10][11] In 2022, he was the judge forZee TV's devotional music reality showSwarna Swar Bharat along withKumar Vishwas andKailash Kher.[12][13]
Wadkar is the director of theAjivasan(Acharya Jialal Vasant Sangeet NIkaetan) Music Academy in Mumbai[14] He also has a training institute in andNew Jersey/New York City area.[citation needed] He has also started an online music school, called SWAMA (Suresh Wadkar Ajivasan Music Academy), under Ace Open University.[citation needed]
In 1976, Wadkar won theMadan Mohan Best Male Playback Singer Award at the Sur-Singar competition.[6][5] He is also a recipient of the 2004 Lata Mangeshkar Puraskar instituted byMadhya Pradesh government.[17] He also won the 2007 Maharashtra Pride Award which is given by the government ofMaharashtra to citizens of note.[18] He got awarded by Late Sadashiv Amarapurkar Award 2017 by Ahmednagar's Think Global Foundation.
He was awarded theSangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2018 forSugam Sangeet.[3] On January 25, 2020, his name was announced for Government of India's fourth highest civilian honour, thePadma Shri, for his work in the field of arts.[19][20][21]
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