Search quizzes/
Vinyl discs of different sizes
Photo: Banfield, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Music Legends: From Lata to Lennon

This music legends quiz goes from Kishore Kumar and R.D. Burman to the Beatles, Queen and Michael Jackson, with 15 questions on the stories behind the songs. Made for sing-along parties and mixed-age rooms.

15 questionsMedium~3 minNo timer

Updated:

If you liked this

Hollywood Blockbusters ShowdownEntertainmentDesi Screen Time: TV & OTT FavouritesEntertainmentAnimated Movie MagicEntertainmentSitcom Nostalgia: Sarabhai to KhichdiEntertainmentGokuldham Society: Meet the NeighboursEntertainmentBehind the Chashmah: Cast and CrewEntertainment

Trending today

Bollywood QuizBollywoodIndia GK Question Answer Quiz (Indian GK)General KnowledgeCricket World Cup QuizSportsसामान्य ज्ञान प्रश्न (GK in Hindi Questions)HindiGuess the FlagGeographyCurrent Affairs Quiz (October 2026)Current AffairsFriends TV Series QuizMovies & TVKBC क्विज़ (KBC Hindi Quiz)HindiF1 Quiz (Formula 1)SportsNaruto QuizAnime & Games

All Entertainment quizzes →

About this Music Legends quiz

This music legends quiz mixes Indian and global icons: playback singers and film composers alongside the Beatles, Queen and Michael Jackson. The 15 questions lean on stories rather than chart positions, such as where a nickname came from, which song carried a famous dance move, or why a statue stands beside a Swiss lake.

It works well at a sing-along party, a family get-together or an office music round, because there is something for every generation. Parents and grandparents will spot the old Hindi film questions, while younger players often know the Beatles and Queen through films and streaming. Each answer has a short note so the room learns something either way.

Indian film music and Western pop have borrowed from each other for decades. Hindi film singers picked up tricks from Western records, George Harrison carried an Indian instrument into rock, and Indian composers took their songs from Chennai and Mumbai studios to the Oscars. Knowing a little of that back-and-forth is often enough to reason your way to an answer here.

Music Legends questions with answers

Show answers

  1. Strawberry Field was a Salvation Army children's home in Liverpool, a short walk from one Beatle's childhood house. Whose?

    Ornate red iron gates between two weathered stone pillars covered in graffiti, with trees behind them.
    Photo: Rodhullandemu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • Paul McCartney
    • George Harrison
    • John Lennon
    • Ringo Starr

    Answer: John Lennon. John Lennon grew up with his Aunt Mimi at Mendips, close by, and played in the grounds as a boy. He wrote 'Strawberry Fields Forever' about it in 1966.

  2. Michael Jackson's first moonwalk on television came at Motown's 25th anniversary show in 1983. Which song was he performing?

    • Billie Jean
    • Thriller
    • Beat It
    • Smooth Criminal

    Answer: Billie Jean. Billie Jean, the only non-Motown song of the night. Jackson said he learned the step from young street dancers.

  3. Before he took a new name in 1989, the composer of 'Jai Ho' was known by which name?

    An old colour snapshot of a young man in a white shirt being handed a framed platinum disc by a smiling man in a dark suit at an awards event.
    Photo: Magnasound, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • A. S. Dileep Kumar
    • R. K. Shekhar
    • S. Rajesh Kumar
    • A. K. Dilip Raj

    Answer: A. S. Dileep Kumar. A. R. Rahman was born A. S. Dileep Kumar in Madras. R. K. Shekhar was his father, a film music arranger.

  4. Written after the 1962 war, this song left Nehru in tears in 1963. Who sang it live?

    • Asha Bhosle
    • Suman Kalyanpur
    • Lata Mangeshkar
    • Geeta Dutt

    Answer: Lata Mangeshkar. Lata Mangeshkar sang Kavi Pradeep's 'Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon' in Delhi with Nehru in the audience.

  5. A three-metre bronze Freddie Mercury raises his fist over Lake Geneva, in the Swiss town where Queen owned a studio. Which town?

    A bronze statue of a singer with one fist raised and a microphone stand in hand, standing in a plaza with mountains behind.
    Photo: Llez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • Geneva
    • Montreux
    • Lausanne
    • Zurich

    Answer: Montreux. Montreux, where Queen owned Mountain Studios and recorded several albums. The statue went up in 1996 and fans gather there every September for his birthday.

  6. George Harrison found a sitar on the set of Help! and was playing it on a Beatles record by late 1965. Which song?

    An old Indian string instrument with a long fretted neck, a carved bird-head end and two gourd resonators, on a pale background.
    Photo: CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • Within You Without You
    • Here Comes the Sun
    • Love You To
    • Norwegian Wood

    Answer: Norwegian Wood. 'Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)' on Rubber Soul, often called the first Western pop record with a sitar. He later studied with Ravi Shankar.

  7. Kishore Kumar picked up this Alpine mountain trick from Tex Morton records. Name the style.

    • Throat singing
    • Beatboxing
    • Yodelling
    • Rapping

    Answer: Yodelling. Yodelling, heard all over 'Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana'.

  8. Lata once held the Guinness record for most recordings. In 2011 Guinness gave it to whom?

    • Kishore Kumar
    • Lata Mangeshkar
    • Asha Bhosle
    • Mohammed Rafi

    Answer: Asha Bhosle. Asha Bhosle, her younger sister, with over 11,000 songs in more than 20 languages.

  9. As a baby, his cry reportedly sounded like the fifth note, Pa. R.D. Burman's nickname?

    • Bappi
    • Chintu
    • Munna
    • Pancham

    Answer: Pancham. Pancham means fifth, and Pa is the fifth note of the scale.

  10. Its cover is a prism splitting light, with no band name anywhere. Whose album is The Dark Side of the Moon?

    A glass triangular prism splits a thin beam of white light into a rainbow of colours.
    Photo: Dispersive_Prism_Illustration_by_Spigget.jpg: Spigget derivative work: Cepheiden, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
    • The Who
    • Pink Floyd
    • Genesis
    • Led Zeppelin

    Answer: Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd. Hipgnosis designed the 1973 prism cover.

  11. In 2016 the Swedish Academy praised 'new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition' and gave a songwriter the Literature prize. Who?

    • Leonard Cohen
    • Paul Simon
    • Bruce Springsteen
    • Bob Dylan

    Answer: Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan became the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He skipped the December ceremony and sent a speech instead.

  12. The King of Rock and Roll bought a mansion called Graceland in 1957 and is buried in its garden. Which city is it in?

    • Nashville
    • Memphis
    • Tupelo
    • Las Vegas

    Answer: Memphis. Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and Graceland is now a museum.

  13. In March 2025 he premiered his first Western classical symphony, 'Valiant', with the Royal Philharmonic in London. Which Indian film composer?

    • Ilaiyaraaja
    • A. R. Rahman
    • M. M. Keeravani
    • M. S. Viswanathan

    Answer: Ilaiyaraaja. Ilaiyaraaja, who has scored more than 1,000 films, mostly in Tamil.

  14. Four Swedes won Eurovision in Brighton in 1974 with a song named after Napoleon's last battle. Which group?

    • Roxette
    • Ace of Base
    • Europe
    • ABBA

    Answer: ABBA. ABBA won with 'Waterloo', and the group's name comes from the first letters of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid.

  15. At the 2024 Grammys he won three awards in one night, one of them with the fusion band Shakti. Which tabla maestro?

    • Shankar Mahadevan
    • Zakir Hussain
    • Rakesh Chaurasia
    • Ricky Kej

    Answer: Zakir Hussain. Zakir Hussain won for Shakti's 'This Moment', for 'Pashto' and for 'As We Speak'. He died in December 2024.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best-selling album of all time?

Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982) is widely recognised as the best-selling album ever, with sales usually estimated at around 70 million copies worldwide.

Which Indian composer has won Oscars?

A. R. Rahman won two Oscars in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire, and M. M. Keeravani won Best Original Song in 2023 for 'Naatu Naatu' from RRR.

Is this music quiz suitable for a mixed-age party?

Yes. It mixes old Hindi film music with Western rock and pop, so different generations each get their turn, and the questions give clues rather than asking for dates.