Padma Bhushan Usha Uthup recently went viral on social media for her rendition of Miley Cyrus’ hit track, Flowers. “It made me a huge hit with the youngsters, and isn’t that marvellous?” she asks.

The pop icon, who has sung in 17 Indian and eight foreign languages, and has had performances across the globe, adds, “I will sing anything and everything that people love. I’m a people’s singer.”

Usha Di, as she is lovingly known, was in Bengaluru recently to perform as part of the Alive India concert. This was her first concert in the city since winning the Padma Bhushan. In a chat with us, she expressed her wish of Vidya Balan doing her biopic, her dream of collaborating with artistes who are “diabolically different” from her and more. Excerpts:

Just like life itself, music is cyclical. You’re never going to hear, say, Kishore Kumar or Lata Mangeshkar come up on stage and sing. But you will see the younger generation taking to these songs, and the melodies of these legends will live on forever.

I’m grateful for Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and any other arena that allows us to showcase music. They say it’s fleeting, but I think it’s important if it helps you celebrate music. It’s the same with AI; I don’t know how successful it is going to be, but if there’s a good reaction to it, then it’s great. If it’s not useful, you will know immediately by the manner in which the younger generation takes to it. Only what’s truly good will endure.

Singing with other bands and artists is crucial in my eyes and I’ve been doing it for ages. If you work only with yourself, there is no challenge to it, and I’m always up for a challenge. Covers, too, are a great way to reach a broader audience and please so many generations. I sang Miley Cyrus’ Flowers and Adele’s Skyfall which went on to become huge hits among the younger generations. Besides, I’m always trying to see how better I can do the same thing.

I would love to sing with artists who are diabolically different from me. There’s Nikhita Gandhi, who I think is absolutely fantastic. I would love to do something with Shankar Mahadevan and Hariharan, our styles are in contrast to each other, especially Hariharan and myself. Say, for example, if I were to sing a song like Amazing Grace, and Hariharan did a version of a Bhajan, it would be so exciting. They’re different kinds of hymns, yes; but I don’t believe genres can be different all the time. There are seven musical notes and somewhere down the line they have to blend.

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