Google today paid tribute to ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh on his 72nd birthday through a doodle. The Google search page shows a picture of Jagjit Singh sitting with his harmonium.
Singh, who passed away in 2011, continues to be popular with his fans even after his death. According to Google Search Trends, he topped the list of most searched ghazal singers online.
Jagjit Singh, or Jagmohan Singh, was born in Rajasthan on February 8, 1941. His musical talent was spotted at a very young age and his father encouraged him to shift to Bombay. At that time, music meant love songs by Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. Singh refreshed the genre with his voice.
He met and married Chitra Dutta and the duo created the album 'Unforgettables' that even today manages to move millions with its touching rendition. They went on to release many more albums that were extremely popular. Singh's encouragement saw many of his pupils make it big in the industry like Pankaj Udhaas. Singh also encouraged artists from Pakistan to come to India and that led to Ghulam Ali becoming an instant hit with Indians.
Singh sang songs for a number of Hindi movies, most notably Arth, Saath Saath, Bahuroopi, Avishkaar, Griha Pravesh, Ek Baar Kaho.
He died in Mumbai on October 10, 2011 due to a massive cerebral haemorrhage.
