Who was Zubeen Garg? All about Assamese music icon who died in scuba diving accident at 52

Zubeen Garg was born on November 18, 1972, to an Assamese Brahmin family at Tura, Meghalaya, to Mohini Mohon Borthakur and Late Ily Borthakur. He was named after the music composer Zubin Mehta.

Zubeen’s father was a Magistrate, a lyricist and a poet under the name Kapil Thakur. His mother was a singer.

He followed in the footsteps of his mother and started composing songs when he was in school.

Zubeen made his singing debut with the Assamese album Anamika in November 1992. He recorded songs, Tumi Junu Pariba Hun and Tumi Junaki Hubakh, first for the album Ritu, but it was released in the following year of his debut album.

The singer went on to release other popular songs like Xapunor Xur (1992), Junaki Mon (1993), Maya (1994), Asha (1995) and others. He became a cultural icon after he released his first bihu album, Ujan Piriti, which was a commercial success.

Zubeen moved to Mumbai in 1995 to work in the Bollywood music industry. He made his Hindi song debut with his first Indipop solo album, Chandni Raat.

He went on to record Hindi albums and remix songs like Chanda (1996), Shradhaanjali vol: 1,2,3 (1996-97), Jalwa (1998), Yuhi Kabhi (1998), Jadoo (1999), Sparsh (2000), among others.

He bagged his breakthrough song in the film Gangster. He sang Ya Ali for the film and earned the Best Playback Singer award at the Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA) in 2006.

Apart from singing in his Bollywood and Assamese industries, he was also a well-known singer in the Bengali music industry.

Void in the music industry

Zubeen Garg has left a void in the Indian music industry. He had been a cultural icon and had left a lasting impression Assamese industry.

The Assam government had celebrated his legacy with his 20-foot-tall statue during the Nazirating Tamuli Tourism Festival in Digboi in 2022.

Also Read: Singer Zubeen Garg, 52, dies in a scuba diving accident in Singapore

Additionally, a Bamboo bridge was built across the Na Dihing river by villagers of Tengapani and named after Zubeen Garg. The singer himself inaugurated the bridge in 2020.

Zubeen has sung in 40 different languages and dialects, but his popular songs were in the Bengali, Hindi, and Assamese film and music industries.

He was also known to play 12 instruments, including anandalahari, dhol, dotara, drums, guitar, harmonica, harmonium, mandolin, keyboard, tabla, and other percussion instruments. He was the highest-paid singer in Assam.