Hirdesh Singh (born 15 March 1983), known professionally as Yo Yo Honey Singh , or simply Honey Singh, is an Indian music producer, rapper, singer, songwriter and an actor. He started in 2003 as a session and recording artist, and became a bhangra and hip hop music producer. Later, he became successful with his songs and started making songs for Bollywood films.

Hirdesh Singh was born in Karampura, New Delhi on 15 March 1983 into a Sikh Punjabi family to parents Sardaar Sarabjit Singh and Bhupinder Kaur. Singh’s mother is from Hoshiarpur, Punjab and his father is a refugee, who moved and settled in New Delhi. Singh has a sister, Sneha Singh. He graduated from Guru Nanak Public School in the Pitampura neighbourhood of Punjabi Bagh, North West Delhi. Singh prefers to sing in his native language Punjabi and Hindi rather than English.

The Punjabi album International Villager was released on 11 November 2011. The track “Gabru” from the album, featuring singer J-Star, topped the Asian music charts, including the official BBC Asian charts. He has performed at many college festivals, including Ansal Institute of Technology and Ramjas College, Delhi. Singh and Diljit Dosanjh’s song “Lak 28 Kudi Da” reached number one in the BBC Asian Download Charts in May 2011. The song was released as a promotional track for Dosanjh’s film Lion of Punjab.

It was reported that he was paid the highest fee ever for a Bollywood song (as of 2012) of ₹7 million (US$88,000) for a song in the films Cocktail and Mastan. Singh topped the chart of trending videos in 2012. He earned two places on YouTube’s list of top 10 trending videos of 2012. His song “Brown Rang” made it to the top spot. “High Heels”, in collaboration with Jaz Dhami, took the fourth spot.

His debut song in Bollywood films was “Shakal Pe Mat Ja”, featuring Gagan Sidhu. Singh charged Rs. 7 million for a song in the film Mastan. This was the largest amount paid to a song artist in Bollywood to date, making Singh one of the highest-paid musical artists in Bollywood.

The song “Angreji Beat” from Singh’s album International Villager, featuring Gippy Grewal, was featured in Saif Ali Khan’s film Cocktail. Singh launched his single “Bring Me Back ft. Spoken Word” at the Video Music Awards India, which aired on MTV India. After the show, his song premiered on the channel.

In late 2013, he produced songs in the films Chennai Express and Boss. He has also had songs in smaller-budget films such as Mere Dad Ki Maruti, Bajatey Raho and Fugly. In February 2015 he released the songs “Birthday Bash”, followed by songs in films including Gabbar is Back and Bhaag Johnny. He suffered from bipolar disorder and took a long sabbatical from work. He returned in late 2018 with the song “Makhna”. The same year he sang and composed songs for the movies Baazaar and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety.

Mumbai Saga’s first song “Shor Machega”, was released on 28 February 2021. It was composed by Yo Yo Honey Singh, with lyrics and vocals by Singh and Hommie Dilliwala.

Singh made his acting debut with Baljit Singh Deo’s Punjabi film Mirza – The Untold Story (2012), performing the role of Deesha, a mad gangster. Despite only being a cameo appearance, the role went on to win Singh the PTC Punjabi Film Award for Best Male Debut. The following year, Singh appeared in another Punjabi film, this time a comedy by Amit Prasher, Tu Mera 22 Main Tera 22, as Rolly, a childish and spoilt brat, alongside Amrinder Gill. This was Singh’s first main role in a film.

Singh then made his debut as an actor in Bollywood cinema with the 2014 musical-thriller film The Xpose, alongside Himesh Reshammiya. The film was released on 16 May 2014, to mixed reviews from critics, and was a box office flop.

In 2016, Singh starred in the Punjabi action film Zorawar, directed by Vinnil Markan, which was marketed as one of the most expensive Punjabi films to date. The film was critically acclaimed.

In the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, the lyrics to some of his songs, which depict violence against women and rape positively, have caused controversy. A first information report (FIR) was lodged against Singh for his offensive lyrics, and a group of social activists filed an online petition demanding cancellation of his New Year performance at a Gurgaon hotel. After the campaign, Singh’s New Year concert was cancelled by the hotel. Singh denies writing these offensive lyrics.

Singh’s song “Party All Night” in Akshay Kumar’s film Boss was at the centre of a controversy. Producers of the movie had to submit a petition in Delhi High Court claiming that they had ‘muted’ an alleged vulgar word in Singh’s song. The court heard a petition filed by lawyer Sanjay Bhatnagar seeking a stay on the film, contending that without the censor board’s approval, the song could not be released with such a vulgar word. The petitioner had sought a stay on the release of the film until either the word or the song was deleted from the film.