Gun salute for singer-composer KK as West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee pays last respects
Thousands of fans and numerous celebrities have taken to Twitter and other social media platforms to pay tribute for the loss of popular singer KrishnaKumar Kunnath, also known as KK. Academy award winning music director A R Rahman, who worked with KK in some of his hit songs, tweeted, “Dear KK ..what’s the hurry buddy ..gifted singers and artists like you made this life more bearable..#RIPKK.” Similarly, actor Ajay Devgn has also mourned the singer’s death by tweeting that he was saddened at the news of KK’s death after just performing a live performance. Telugu actor Allu Arjun tweeted “Extremely saddened to learn about the untimely demise of KK ji. He sang memorable songs for me. He was loved by people across generations and languages. Condolences to the near & dear. Gone too soon. Rest In Peace,” while Bollywood star Akshay Kumar said “Extremely sad and shocked to know of the sad demise of KK. What a loss! Om Shanti .”
At a special mourning organised at Rabindra Sadan in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered prayers and last respects to the singer before a 21-gun salute in KK’s honour. “It is saddening that a young man passed away. He was such a good singer. What can I say? Can something be said on something like that? ” said Banerjee.
On Tuesday, just after a live performance at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata, Kunnath complained of uneasiness following which he was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. Doctors say he succumbed to a suspected cardiac arrest.
KK was born on August 23, 1968. The Delhi-based singer came to Mumbai in 1994 to pursue singing and soon got the chance to sing a one-minute jingle for singer Leslie Lewis for UTV that immediately kicked off his career. He sang over 3500 jingles for numerous brands including Monte Carlo, TVS Scooty, Amul, Britannia and Pepsi’s Yeh Dil Maange More in a span of four years.
His dream to sing for a Bollywood movie materialised when film producer Vishal Bharadwaj asked him to sing Chhod Aaye Hum in Sampooran Singh Gulzar’s Maachis (1996). However, what took KK to the top was Tadap Tadap in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999).
In the same year, his first album Pal became an instant hit and brought him nationwide recognition. After that he took a gap of eight years before releasing another hit and second album Humsafar on January 24, 2008. Following these, he went on to produce several other hit songs and marked his presence in the music industry. In just over two decades, KK sang over 700 songs and received many awards and nominations, including 6 Filmfare Awards and Hub Awards for Best Playback Singer- Male in Tamil.
Apart from Hindi, he had sung songs in several different languages such as Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Assamese. He had a long repertoire of big hit songs such as Ankhon Mein Teri (2007, Om Shanti Om), Dil Ibaadat (2009, Tum Mile 2009), Dola re Dola (2002, Devdas) and many more. Akasher neele meghe dhaka tara khunje paoa is his only Bengali song that he had sung back in 2011 for the Bengali film Faande Poriya Boga Kaande Re.
According to many fans and videos posted on social media, the last song performed by KK at the Kolkata concert was also his very first hit song, Pal.
KK is survived by wife Jyothy Krishna and their two children. His funeral will take place in Mumbai on June 2.