Mohinder Kaur Bhamra

Mohinder Kaur Bhamra (born 1936) is a British singer of Punjabi folk music, ghazals and Sikh hymns. Some of her songs have highlighted issues that concern British Indian women.

Bhamra encouraged British Indian women to join in traditional dance and party celebrations at a time when they were typically excluded. Her early popular party pieces include Giddha pao haan deo, maar maar ke tali (Dance ladies dance. Clap your hands), Ni aae na Vilayat kurye (Don't come to England girl) and Raatan chad de ve (Stop working the nightshift my dear).

Early life and education Mohinder Kaur Bhamra was born in Uganda when it was a British colony. She moved to British India at around age five or six. She attended a state school in Ludhiana and took up evening classes in Sikh theology and classical music at the Guru Angad Dev Punjab College. There, in 1959, she gave birth to her first son, Kuljit. She learnt to play the harmonium and adapted the music to popular songs.

In England, following the birth of her second son Satpaul, and after regularly attending gurdwaras in Shepherd's Bush and Stepney Green where she sang, played the dholki and read prayers, people began to invite Bhamra to sing at celebrations, and by 1966 she was performing at weddings. Her son Kuljit, who played the tabla, accompanied her, later followed by his two younger brothers. In 1978 her family group joined A.S. Kang. In 1981, Bhamra recorded her album Kuri Southall Di (The girl from Southall). It was a cautionary tale aimed at young girls in India who might assume that coming to England to marry might free them from purdah; it warned of the lie by the man who would bring them to England, and of being sent to work in factories by their close relatives, having to conform to the cold and to shift work and housework.

In 1982, she released the album Punjabi Disco, produced by her son Kuljit Bhamra while she provided the vocals. It was the first album to combine bhangra with electronic dance music. Kuljit produced the album using a Roland SH-1000 synthesizer and Roland Compurhythm CR-8000 drum machine. The album anticipated elements of acid house music, while also featuring elements of disco, funk and psychedelic music. The album was initially a commercial failure, but later developed a cult following after its rediscovery in the early 21st century, leading to a re-release in 2025.