Renowned ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, who was admitted to the ICU of Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital last week, passed away on Monday. He was 70. Jagjit Singh was admitted to the ICU reportedly due to a brain hemorrhage and he underwent an emergency neurosurgery on admission. He is survived by his wife Chitra Singh, with whom he had produced several record breaking albums. Their only son Vivek Singh had died in a road accident in 1990.
Jagjit Singh was born on February 8, 1941, in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan. He had four sisters and two brothers and he was known as Jeet by his family. Popularly known as “The Ghazal King” he gained acclaim together with his wife, another renowned Indian ghazal singer Chitra Singh, in the 1970s and 1980s, as the first ever successful duo act (husband-wife) in the history of recorded Indian music.
Jagjit Singh was a singer, composer, activist and entrepreneur. Recipient of Padma Bhushan award, he sung in several languages including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Nepali. Unlike other ghazal singers, Singh did not hesitate in lending his voice for films. His 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 the first Indian music director to use the technique of multi-track recording for his album ‘Beyond Time’. His popular ghazals include, Meri zindagi kisi aur ki, mere naam ka koi aur hai, Apni marzi se kahan apne safar ke hum hain, Wo jo hum mein tumme qaraar tha, Patta-patta boota-boota haal hamaara jaane hai, Hoshwalo ko khabar, etc. He has also sung for popular movies like Sarfarosh and Tarqeeb.
Earlier, Jagjit Singh underwent a surgery at Lilavati Hospital in Bandra on 23rd September 2011 after he suffered a brain haemorrhage. Doctors at the hospital performed an emergency surgery on Singh. His condition was described as “critical” and doctors continued to monitor him in the intensive care unit. He was breathing with the aid of a ventilator. Singh, who was scheduled to perform with Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali at a concert at Shanmukhananda Hall, had a history of heart ailments. In January 1998, he suffered a heart attack, which led him to quit smoking.