He was born to Khera Ram (chamar Caste) and Harnam Kaur. His birthplace was Chakk no. 384 in Lyallpur district of Pakistan and after partition of India in 1947 he relocated to Ludhiana, Punjab, India. He was trained in vocal singing by Pandit Dyall ji and Chaudhry Majid and his writing skills were honed by Sundar das aasi. He got married to Ram Rakhi in 1930, with whom he had two daughters and five sons. His eldest son is Kartar Chand and younger one is Jasdev Chand. He was a hit.

His most famous songs were "Das mein ki pyar wichon khatya" and "Satgur Nanak teri leela nyaari ae". He recorded duet songs with Mohinderjit Kaur Sekhon, who was a recording artist with AIR, Jalandhar. He also popularized singing of Dulla Bhatti, Shahni Kaulan and Puran Bhagat. His first recording was with HMV in 1952 and till last he remained with HMV. He performed all over the world and many times performed with the late great Alam Lohar, they were also good friends. He also popularized Tumbi, a traditional North Indian instrument. Much of his music has been sampled by Panjabi MC.

He was awarded Gold medal By Indian Prime minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956. He was awarded a lifetime contribution award in 1989 by National Academy of Dance, Drama and Music, Delhi, India.

He slipped on the floor of his home resulting in a hip fracture and which also resulted in gangrene formation in his hurt foot (owing to his diabetec condition)- further deteriorating his health. The day he died, his leg was to be amputated in Mohan Devi Oswal Hospital, Ludhiana. During his last days, Jagdev Singh Jassowal and Gurbhajan Gill were with him.