Singer KK, who gave Indian music lovers many hits over the last three decades has died at 53. He gave a performance at Nazrul Mancha on Tuesday and later went to his hotel where he fell ill. He was brought to a hospital where he was declared dead.
KK’s musical journey began by listening to his mother’s Malayali songs which were recorded by his father in a tape recorder. Apart from singing in Bollywood, the legendary singer lent his voice in more than 3000 jingles. He started off his career singing jingles back in 1985. KK started taking singing seriously in the second grade after a unanimous positive reception to the song ‘Jab Andhera Hota Hai’ from Raja Rani (1973) when he performed the song on stage.
KK married his childhood sweetheart Jyothi Krishna. However, getting her hand and taking holy vows with her wasn’t as easy as it sounds. He had to get himself a job which he did. He worked as a salesman for six months and then eventually quit the job. His wife and his father convinced him to pursue music and he started working on jingles again. KK was a commerce graduate from Delhi University. He was a versatile singer and had a versatile voice which suited songs sung in all languages.
KK, despite the many chartbuster Bollywood songs that he sung, was never a favourite at the award shows. He just won one major award in 2009 for the song Khuda Jaane from Bachna Ae Haseeno. He said that he never got awards because he never conspired for them. While KK’s songs were absolutely popular among listeners, KK claimed that most people didn’t recognise him. KK liked being an underdog in the music industry but what disheartened him was the fact that those who liked his music never really spared five minutes to check the name of the singer.
KK never took professional musical training and was not a classically trained singer. KK was a diehard fan of another legendary KK a.k.a Kishore Kumar.
