Kanak Chapa (; born 11 September 1969) is a Bangladeshi singer. She received the Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer three times, for her performance in the films Love Story (1995), Premer Taj Mahal (2001) and Ek Takar Bou (2008). She published her autobiography Sthobir Jajabor in 2011 and a poetry book Mukhomukhi Joddha in 2012.
Kanak Chapa was born as Rumana Morshed on 11 September 1969 in Dhaka to Azizul Huque Morshed (born October 27, 1933; died December 29, 2009) and Momena Jahan. Her parents were cousins and they got married on January 20, 1960. She is the third among five siblings. She got her first music lessons from her father. During her career, she sang almost 3 thousand songs and released over 30 solo albums. In 1978, she made her television debut. As a child singer, she became a champion in Notun Kuri in the year 1978. She received championship award for "Jatiyo Shishu Protijogita" for three years in a row. She was under the guidance of artist Ustad Basir Ahmed for 12 years.
From a very young age, Kanak Chapa's father gave her the initial training in singing. Morshed was an amateur singer and also a painter who was a student of Zainul Abedin. Kanak Chapa was born in a conservative family. So her painting was not welcomed eventually and her father did not want her to paint as a career. Kanak Chapa completed her school from Madartek Abdul Aziz High School. Later she went to Viqarunnisa Noon School and College for her HSC.
Kanak Chapa is married to music director and composer Moinul Islam Khan (born January 25, 1957) on December 6, 1984. She got married at the age of 15 and her husband was 27 years old. Together, they have one son, Faizul Islam Khan (born November 15, 1987), and one daughter, Faria Islam Khan (born November 27, 1990). Both are trained singers. Along with 2 children, she has 5 grandchildren.
Kanak Chapa competed from the Sirajganj-1 constituency in the 2018 Bangladeshi general election with the nomination from Bangladesh Nationalist Party and lost to Mohammed Nasim from Bangladesh Awami League.
She sang more than 3500 songs, did playback in about 2000 films. About 40 albums of her had been released and till now they are very popular. She had performed in more than 4000 stage shows. She had shared the stage with the likes of Subir Nandi, Andrew Kishore, Kumar Bishwajit, Monir Khan and other artists of Bangladesh.
Apart from singing, Kanak Chapa is an accomplished writer. She has written columns and fictions in many leading newspapers and online portals. She has published a total of 6 books: Sthobir Jajabor, Mukhomukhi Joddha Megher Danay Chore, Boikata Ghuri: Kataghuri 1, Boikata Ghuri: Kataghuri 2. The last two are her autobiography consisting of two volumes and was published in 2020.
Kanak Chapa is involved with social organizations named "Potho Shishuder Chayatol", "Amra Khati Gorib" and "Matrisodon". She has been running an online school named "Amader Khelaghor School" for about eight years.
Bangladesh National Film Awards
11th Channel i Music Awards