Renowned singer Sonu Nigam added another feather to his cap as he received India’s fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri, by President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday, March 28. The awards were presented at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II at Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

The singer, who has given his melodious voice to thousands of songs in the Hindi film industry, was awarded this prestigious honor today. Sonu is often denoted as the ‘Lord of Chords’. He has lent his voice to over 4,000 songs in more than 10 languages.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Rajya Sabha MP JP Nadda were present during the event. The 48-year-old singer dedicated his award to his mother.

He was quoted saying, “I’m thankful to the Government of India for thinking of me as a deserving candidate and bestowing me the Padma Shri. My heartfelt thanks to all those who selected me and suggested my name for this prestigious honour. I would also like to thank my mother, Shobha Nigam, and my father, Agam Kumar Nigam. In fact, I want to dedicate this award to my mother. Had she been here today, she would have cried a lot.”

Sonu is also a receiver of several accolades including the National Film Award. He has predominantly sung in Hindi and Kannada languages but he has also proved his mettle by singing in Odia, Bengali, Nepali, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, and other Indian languages.

A few of his evergreen songs are Kal Ho Naa Ho, Suraj Hua Maddham, Main Agar Kahoon, Do Pal, Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin and more.