(birth. Feb. 14, 1922, Gadag, Dharwad, Karnataka), His full name is Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi.
Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi, legendary vocal-ist in the Hindustani classical tradition and a leading exponent of the Kirana gharana.Son of a conservative school teacher, Joshi was extremely enthused by the recording of Abdul Karim Khan, the founder father of the Kirana gharana.
He left home at a young age to study and train himself in music. His quest for a master took him to Gwalior, Kolkata, and Rampur. He was trained by several teachers, but under the guidance of renowned vocalist Sawai Gandharva of the Kirana gharana, Bhimsen Joshi mastered the Gharana techniques and developed gradually his own distinctive style by adopting uniqueness and difference belonging to the other gharanas. He has entrusted the entire world with his voice which has a kind of flexibility and range with his years of severe practice. Joshi sings in the khayal style. He is a known figure for thumris and bhajans.
He has been the recipient of several awards and honours: the Padma Shri in 1972, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1985, and the Padma Vibhushan in 1999 and in the year 2008 he was awarded Bharat Ratna.