Ghazal singer Jagjit Singh passes away

Renowned ghazal singer Jagjit Singh today passed away at the Lilavati Hospital here, over a fortnight after he suffered brain haemorrhage.

Stirring millions of hearts with his soulful numbers 'Jhuki jhuki si nazar' and 'Kaagaz ki kashti', ghazal king Jagit Singh infused a new life in the dying genre of music in the seventies and carved a niche for himself in Bollywood.

A Padma Bhushan recipient, 70-year-old Singh was admitted to the hospital on September 23 and was in ICU since then.His condition had deteriorated in the

"Jagjit Singh passed away at 8.10 am after having a terrible haemorrhage," said Dr Sudhir Nandgaonkar, hospital spokesperson. The day he was admitted, he was supposed to perform at a concert at Shanmukhananda Hall, Matunga, in Mumbai but the programme was cancelled after he was taken ill.

Despite a surgery, his condition did not improve and he remained on life support.

The pain and melancholy in his voice gave vent to the feelings of many a lonely heart.

Conjuring up hits like 'yeh zindagi kisi aur ki, mere naam ka koi aur hai,' 'Patta-patta boota-boota haal hamaara jaane hai,' 'Hontho se chhoo lo tum, 'Tum ko dekha', 'Hazaar baar ruke ham and hazaar baar chale', Singh made a mark during the '70s when the ghazal scene was dominated by well-established names like Noor Jehan, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar, Talat Mahmood and Mehdi Hassan.

The voice behind the timeless ghazals was inspired by singers like KL Sehgal, Talat Mahmood, Abdul Karim Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Amir Khan.

One of the most successful and loved artistes of his time, he has left behind a huge body of work in a career spanning five decades, including 80 albums.

Often called the 'Ghazal King' by his fans and peers, Jagjit was born on February 8, 1941 in Sriganganagar, Rajasthan, to Amar Singh Dhiman, a government employee, and Bachan Kaur. He had four sisters and two brothers and was called Jeet by his family.

He was raised as a Sikh by religion. His birth name was Jagmohan but his Sikh father rechristened him as Jagjit following the advice of his guru.

It was his father, who first recognised his son's talent. He sent young Jagjit to learn the nuances of music under a blind teacher, Pandit Chhaganlal Sharma. He later trained under Ustad Jamal Khan of Sainia gharana for six years and gained knowledge in Khayal, Thumri and Dhrupad forms.

 

After graduation, he shifted base to Mumbai, to explore career in the world of music. In the next decade and half, he earned nationwide fame as ghazal singer and music composer. He sang in several languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Nepali.

His personal life, though, was marked by a tragedy: His only son, Vivek, died in a car accident in 1990 when he was just 18.

The music world expressed grief on hearing the news of Jagjit Singh's death. Fellow ghazal singer, Pankaj Udhas, described Jagjit as an "extremely versatile singer". "I am devastated after hearing the tragic news," Udhas said on phone from Pune.

Singh is survived by wife Chitra Singh.