Udit Narayan Jha (born 1 December 1955) is an Indian playback singer[3] whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi films.

He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Sindhi, Odia, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Malayalam, Assamese, Bagheli and Maithili.

[13][14][15] In 2009, when Narayan was awarded India's fourth highest civilian honour Padma Shri, there were reports questioning his Indian citizenship, claiming that he was born in Nepal.

However, Udit Narayan himself branded these reports as "completely false", and stated that he was born in the Baisi village of Supaul district in Bihar at his maternal grandparents' home near the India-Nepal border.

[15] In September 2018, Udit Narayan revealed at a ceremony held by the Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America, that he identifies as a Bihari.

[18] Narayan studied at Jageshwar High School, Kunauli, Supaul, Bihar, India, where he finished his SSC and later obtained his intermediate degree from Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Campus of Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal.

His father Harekrishna Jha was a farmer and his mother Bhuvneshwari Devi was a folk singer who encouraged his career.

[27] Narayan remained prolific through the 2000s, singing numbers in films such as Pukar, Dhadkan, Lagaan, Devdas and Veer-Zaara.

[28] In 2014, Narayan sang a song titled "Naa Hum Jo Kah De" along with Shreya Ghoshal, for the album Women's Day Special: Spreading Melodies Everywhere.

[30] Narayan's work has been praised by his contemporaries Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy and music director Ankit Tiwari.

Narayan also sang the title song for the TV show Yeh Duniyan Gazab Ki, with Kumar Sanu.

[39] Narayan was on the panel of judges of Indian Idol 3 in 2007 with music composer Anu Malik and playback singer Alisha Chinai on Sony TV.

Narayan was on the panel of judges on Sony TV for Waar Parriwar, a reality show based on the bringing together of a singing gharana (family of singers).

He shared judging duties with fellow playback singer Kumar Sanu and Jatin Pandit of the music duo Jatin–Lalit.

[40] Narayan has appeared on Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star[41] and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs as a guest.