As Sunali Rathore's new sound for her first ever pop album 'Sunali - This Is Me' is being appreciated all over, there are some important facts about Sunali - the person, her inspirations and what went behind the creation of her latest album that has lyrics by Mehboob and music by Lesle Lewis.

- Music to her is the first ray of the sun caressing her with her warmth. She has always loved the bright sun and 'Baad-e-saba' [the early morning breeze] has always inspired her to sing.

- As a child, her guru was none other than one of the finest musicians of India - Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

- Although she was trained and nurtured to sing in pure Indian classical music, she also had a strong tilt towards western music.

- She heard variety of great people in the world of music ranging from Ustad Aamir Khan, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Beatles, Ella Fritzgerald, Ray Charles, Barbara Steisand, Whitney Houston and Nat King Cole.

- Genre of music doesn't matter to her! What matters to her most is her love for singing and her life dedicated to music.

- Urdu became a part of Indian music study and inspired her to sing 'ghazals'.

- She has 10 fruitful years as a 'ghazal' singer, has done live converts all over the world, come up with number of successful albums and has sung under the likes of Ghulam Ali.

- Her global concerts introduced her to the world of music ranging from Latino, Spanish to African.

- Asha Bhonsle [whom she addresses fondly as Asha tai] has been a constant source of inspiration for her due to the latter's path breaking experiments in the music world.

- When Sunali complained of monotony in her work, it was Asha Bhonsle who gave her an idea of recording a music album with Lesle Lewis.

- Though Lesle realized that Sunali was an established 'ghazal' singer, he was willing to take her on the project and experiment with the music and her voice.

- She found working with Lesle as a wholesome experience as she learned and unlearned with fun, tears, challenges and creative satisfaction all rolled in one. It was Lesle who inspired her to tread a new and challenging musical path.

- Her journey during the album has been one roller coaster ride as she went to London to sunk herself into a new Western sound. It was also wonderfully enriching for her while shooting for the music video of 'Ooh Ooh Aah Aah' with her dear friends Aban and Kiran Deohans.

- She doesn't fail to mention two special people in her life who helped her come up with 'Sunali - This Is Me' - her husband Roop Kumar Rathod and her dearest daughter Riwa.

- She has dedicated the album to her mom.