Late ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, whose 72nd birth anniversary is Friday, has topped a list of popular singers of the genre.

According to Google Search Trends, Jagjit Singh was people's first choice - both in India and abroad, when it came to songs, lyrics, and mp3s of ghazals.

Globally, the Indian subcontinent searches the highest for Jagjit Singh, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates.

In India, netizens of Ludhiana, Bhopal and Indore search the most for queries related to Jagjit Singh, best remembered for numbers like "Jhuki jhuki si nazar", "Tum itna jo", "Koi ye kaise bataye", "Yeh tera ghar yeh mera ghar", "Tumko dekha toh yeh khayaal", "Kaagaz ki kashti", "Hoshwalon ko khabar kya", "Koi fariyaad" and "Chitthi na koi sandesh".

He died Oct 10, 2011, following brain haemorrhage.

Singer Pankaj Udhas takes the second place in his online popularity in India, whereas Pakistani ghazal ace Ghulam Ali is number two on the popularity chart worldwide.