In his young age, Hans Raj Hans studied under the renowned singer/teacher Puran Shah Koti and music director Charanjit Ahuja. He then started singing Punjabi folk, devotional songs and Sufi music.
During Hans’ student days at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, he won the top singing award three years in a row. He was also awarded the prestigious Punjab State Singer Award by the Punjab Government. Later, he received the fourth highest civilian award of India: the Padma Shri Award for arts.
His international popularity began to grow after he sang Ni Vanjaaran Kuriey – a culturally-rich and nostalgic song that appealed to Punjabis around the globe.
Hans then recorded a song written by Punjabi writer Jasvir Cheema entitled Mera Dil, Mera Dil in which he added his unique signature vocal embellishments, combining folk and classical idioms for the first time. His first solo album Jogian de Kanna vich Kach Diyan Mundra was released by EMI in 1987.
There was no stopping Hans after this, and every subsequent album released became a hit..