Playback singer
A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a vocalist whose performance is pre-recorded in audio, to be paired with another actor's filmed performance. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the actors lip-sync the songs for camera; the actual playback singer does not appear on screen. Generally, to synchronise with the emotional situation of the song or complete film, the playback singer is given an idea or emotional context of that part of the film so that they can interpret by taking the right moves in their vocals.
South Asia
South Asian films produced in the Indian subcontinent frequently use this technique. A majority of Indian films as well as Pakistani films typically include six or seven songs. After Alam Ara (1931), the first Indian talkie film, for many years singers made dual recordings for a film, one during the shoot, and later in the recording studio, until 1952 or 1953. Popular playback singers in India enjoy the same status as popular actors and music directors[1][2][3] and receive wide public admiration. Most of the playback singers are initially trained in classical music, but they later often expand their range.[4]
Mohammed Rafi and Ahmed Rushdi[5] are regarded as two of the most influential playback singers in South Asia.[6] The sisters Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, who mainly worked in Hindi films, are two of the best-known and most prolific playback singers in India.[7][8] In 2011, Guinness officially acknowledged Bhosle as the most recorded artist in music history.[9]
Hollywood
The practice is also employed in Hollywood musicals, where such performers are known as ghost singers, though less frequently in other genres. Notable Hollywood performances include Anita Ellis as the voice of Rita Hayworth's title character in Gilda (1946). Both Ellis's and Hayworth's performances were so impressive that audiences did not know that the latter's voice had been dubbed. Called "the sexiest voice of 1946", Ellis's identity was not publicised; Hayworth was instead credited on the soundtrack.
There have been other uses of ghost singing in Hollywood, including Marni Nixon in West Side Story for Natalie Wood's portrayal of Maria, in The King and I for Deborah Kerr's Anna Leonowens, and for Audrey Hepburn's Eliza in My Fair Lady; Bill Lee singing for John Kerr's Lieutenant Cable in South Pacific and for Christopher Plummer's Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music,[citation needed] Lindsay Ridgeway for Ashley Peldon's character as Darla Dimple in the animated film Cats Don't Dance, Claudia Brücken providing the singing voice for Erika Heynatz's character as Elsa Lichtmann in L.A. Noire, and Betty Noyes singing for Debbie Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain,[10] a film in which ghost singing is a major plot point.
The use of ghost singers to dub actors was sometimes kept secret from the public, and occasionally from the actors themselves.[11][12] Studio executives sometimes felt that the public would be less inclined to see musical films if they knew the parts were not being sung by the screen actors.[13] Marni Nixon successfully fought to receive royalty payments for her work on West Side Story.[13]
Examples
Known playback or ghost singers include:
- India Adams, who dubbed for Cyd Charisse in The Band Wagon (1953).[14] That same year, she also dubbed for Joan Crawford in Torch Song.[15]
- Bill Shirley, who dubbed for Jeremy Brett in Warner Bros. My Fair Lady[citation needed]
- Jo Ann Greer, who dubbed for Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak, and Dorothy Malone[16]
- Marni Nixon, who dubbed for Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc, Deborah Kerr in The King and I and An Affair To Remember, for Natalie Wood in West Side Story, for Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1963), and for Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes[17]
- Betty Wand, who dubbed for Leslie Caron in Gigi[17]
- Betty Noyes, who dubbed for Debbie Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain
- Annette Warren, who dubbed for Ava Gardner in Show Boat[17][18] and Lucille Ball in both Fancy Pants and Sorrowful Jones[citation needed]
- Darlene Love ghost sang for girl group The Crystals, as acknowledged in the documentary 20 Feet From Stardom
- Bill Lee provided the singing voice for Matt Mattox as Caleb Pontipee in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, John Kerr as Lieutenant Cable in South Pacific and for Christopher Plummer as Captain von Trapp in the film of The Sound of Music
- Thurl Ravenscroft provided the singing voice for Ken Clark as Stewpot in South Pacific and Fred Astaire in Daddy Long Legs
- John Wallace provided the singing voice for Paul L. Smith as Bluto in Popeye
- Diana Coupland provided the singing voice for Ursula Andress in the first official James Bond film, Dr. No[19]
- Yang Peiyi, who dubbed for Lin Miaoke at the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing
- Drew Seeley, an actor, dancer and singer provided the vocals for Zac Efron in the 2006 Disney musical film High School Musical
- Tsin Ting, who is perhaps best known as the Marni Nixon of Hong Kong cinema.
- Andrea Robinson, who provided the vocals for Wendy Makkena in the Sister Act franchise.
- Loren Allred provided the singing voice for Rebecca Ferguson in the film The Greatest Showman.
See also
- Dubbing, also known as looping or post-sync
- Filmi-ghazal
- List of Pakistani film singers
References
- ↑ Wolk, Douglas (April 1999). "Kill Your Radio: Music on The 'Net". CMJ New Music (Electro Media): 61.
- ↑ D. Booth, Gregory (2008). Behind the curtain: making music in Mumbai's film studios. OUP USA. pp. 275–276. ISBN 978-0-19-532764-9.
- ↑ Srinivasan, Meera (27 February 2009). "Fans spend a sleepless night". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ↑ Rajamani, Radhika (17 February 2003). "Realising a dream". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 July 2003. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- ↑ "Rushdi remembered as magician of voice". The Nation. 12 April 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ↑
- Harris, Craig. "Mohammed Rafi". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- "Articles about Mohammad Rafi". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
- "Ahmed Rushdi, Remembering a legend". Dawn News. 11 April 2012. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- "Remembering Ahmed Rushdi". The Express Tribune. 12 April 2010. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ↑ Gangadhar, v. (18 May 2001). "Only the best preferred". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 August 2003. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- ↑
- Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterji, Saibal (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. pp. 72–73. ISBN 81-7991-066-0.
- Arnold, Alison (2000). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Taylor & Francis. pp. 420–421. ISBN 0-8240-4946-2.
- Yasmeen, Afshan (21 September 2004). "Music show to celebrate birthday of melody queen". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 November 2004. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
- Pride, Dominic (August 1996). "The Latest Music News From Around The Planet". Billboard. p. 51.
- Puri, Amit (24 February 2003). "Dedicated to Queen of Melody". The Tribune, Chandigarh. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- "Melody Queen Lata rings in 75th birthday quietly". The Tribune. Chandigarh. 29 September 2004. Archived from the original on 14 August 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
- ↑ Banerjee, Soumyadipta (22 October 2011). "It's a world record for Asha Bhosle". DNA India. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- ↑ Earl J. Hess and Pratibha A. Dabholkar, Singin' in the Rain: The Making of an American Masterpiece (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2009), p145.
- ↑ Addley, Esther (29 September 2023). "From Audrey Hepburn to Zac Efron: a brief history of dubbed singing in Hollywood". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ F; r; e; s; h; A; i; r (29 July 2016). "Remembering Hollywood 'Ghost Singer' Marni Nixon". NPR. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- 1 2 Times, Murray Schumach Special To the New York (6 February 1962). "PLEA FOR CREDITS BY 'GHOST SINGER'; Marni Nixon of Film Musicals Condemns Concealment". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ Thomson, David (25 September 2008). 'Have You Seen...?': a Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films including masterpieces, oddities and guilty pleasures (with just a few disasters). Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-0-14-192658-2.
- ↑ Quirk, Lawrence J. and William Schoell (2013) Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography, p. 170. University Press of Kentucky At Google Books. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ↑ "Obituary: Joan Greer "Jo Ann" McMahan" Archived 15 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- 1 2 3 King, Susan (14 January 2011). "Ghost singer India Adams appears" Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ↑ Server, Lee (2007) Ava Gardner: "Love Is Nothing", p. 218. Macmillan, Apr 1, 2007 – At Google Books. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ↑ Bushard, Anthony (August 2014). "The Music of James Bond. By Jon Burlingame. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012". Journal of the Society for American Music. 8 (3): 412–415. doi:10.1017/s1752196314000261. ISSN 1752-1963. S2CID 194101235.
External links
The dictionary definition of playback singer at Wiktionary
