Ghazal king Jagjit Singh passes away

Mangalore Today / NDTV

Mumbai, Oct 10: Renowned Ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, who was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital in September, passed away on Monday,October 10.2011.

 

The singer was admitted to the ICU reportedly due to a brain hemorrhage and he underwent an emergency neurosurgery on admission.

Jagjit Singh has had a history of heart ailments for which he was on blood thinners, which are suspected to have triggered the damage. The 70-year-old singer also suffered from hypertension.

Mr Singh was admitted just hours before he was to perform with another Ghazal maestro, Ghulam Ali, in Mumbai. The maestros were set to croon their trademark songs in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.

 

Born on February 8, 1941, ’the ghazal king’ was a singer, composer, activist and entrepreneur. The 70-year old was admitted in Mumbai’s Lilavati hospital after he suffered brain hemorrhage last month. He underwent two surgeries and was on life support.

He has sung in several languages including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Nepali. Jagjit Singh entered the music circuit at a time which was primarily dominated by Pakistani ghazal singers, and Indian singers were considered relatively lesser authentic than their Pakistani counterparts.

Unlike other ghazal singers, Singh did not hesitate in lending his voice for films. His silky voice ruled during early 80’s in films like Prem Geet, Saath Saath and Arth. However, his major work is spread over more than 60 filmy and non filmy albums.

Jagjit Singh was also known for modern approach and infusion of technology in the traditional art of ghazal singing. Singh was the first Indian music director to use the technique of multi-track recording for his album ’Beyond Time’.

Recipient of Padma Bhushan award, Jagjit Singh was the man behind making the ghazal genre available and understandable to all. Prior to Singh, ghazal singing was considered as an elite art, which was difficult for the common mass to understand due to high class Urdu and Persian.

Jagjit Singh broke this myth by coming up with songs such as ’Kaagaz ki kashti’, ’Chaak jigar ke’, ’Kal chadhanvi ki raat thi’, and ’Shaam se aankh me name si hai’. He mixed the words of legends like Ghalib, Qateel Shifai, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Nida Fazli and Sudarshan Faakir with melodious indigenous tunes and achieved a state where nothing came in between him and his listeners.