Indian Singer-Composer KK Passes Away at 53

KK aka Krishnakumar Kunnath, Indian pop’s heartfelt voice from the late Nineties, died on Tuesday following a concert in Kolkata, Zee 24 Ghanta reports.

The singer and composer was reportedly feeling uneasy before his performance at Nazrul Mancha for Vivekananda College on May 31st. His band’s bassist J.D. aka John Jaideep Thirumalai, confirmed to Rolling Stone India that KK suffered a cardiac arrest after the gig.

KK was known as the heartfelt multilingual singer behind Hindi songs like “Yaaron” and “Pal” from his 1999 album Pal, composed by Leslee Lewis of the Colonial Cousins. The song “Yaaron” received a bigger push following its inclusion in the soundtrack for coming of age film Rockford, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. It was the breakout hit that strengthened KK’s place not just as part of the late-Nineties and early 2000s Indi-Pop movement, but also as a distinct singer who wasn’t just trying to ape what was popular in Europe and the U.S. and channel it into an Indian regional language.

Born on August 23rd, 1968 in New Delhi into a Malayali family, KK imbibed the music of everyone from Mohammed Rafi to Sting from childhood well into his college days, partly owing to his family’s fondness for music. He began performing on stage as the second standard in school. KK sang Bhupinder Singh and Asha Bhosle’s R.D. Burman-composed song “Jab Andhera Hota Hai,” from the 1972 movie Raja Rani.

In the early Nineties, he was part of the rock band Kingsloth and also played drums for other acts in the capital’s scene. Veteran rock artist Bann Chakraborty (from Orange Street) recounted in a tribute to KK on Facebook, “I remember watching these gigs at the Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi where he would sing covers of REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake.”

By 1995, KK landed in Mumbai in the hopes of making an album. With Lewis becoming a mentor of sorts, the singer instead made big strides in the ad jingle world, his voice appearing in thousands of commercials in a span of four years. His first brush with Bollywood began on a promising albeit subtle role – singing a section of “Chhod Aaye Hum” for the 1996 movie Maachis, which featured lyrics by the film’s director, Gulzar, and music composed by Vishal Bhardwaj. “Those lines were very close to my heart,” KK told India Today in an undated archival video interview. Between 1997 and 1999, KK landed singing roles with composers such as A.R. Rahman and Ismail Darbar. The latter gave him “Tadap Tadap Ke Is Dil,” a melodramatic song from the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. A tune for the bitterly heartbroken, KK received a big boost in Bollywood through the hit track.

He went on to sing in over 11 languages, including Tamil, Bengali, Telugu and his native tongue Malayalam, among others. Although KK had formed early bonds with composers like Pritam and Lewis, he worked with everyone from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to Vishal-Shekhar and Anu Malik, plus Harris Jayaraj, Gurukiran and others across languages.

Often a sensible voice in terms of texture and even when he was speaking about his craft, KK brought a versatility that few singers possessed at the time he broke out in the early 2000s. Right from “Tadap Tadap” to joining Shaan and Shankar Mahadevan for the playful “Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe” from Dil Chahta Hai (2001) right on to the grandiose rock song “Uyirin Uyirae” (Kaakha Kaakha, 2003), KK was a go-to name when it came to multilingual singers.

A class apart in terms of vocal range – he knew exactly when to elevate a song with power and when to keep things understated – KK’s rise in the music world as a solo artist as well as his playback career remains among the best examples of a star being born at his own pace and due to his own abilities.

The tributes and anecdotes flowed in as fans and peers were coming to terms with KK’s untimely passing. Pritam told The Indian Express, “Both of us began with ad jingles… KK was the first singer I signed up. Since then, there has been no film where he hasn’t sung for me. I ensured that he would sing at least one number for me… When he recorded ‘Yeh Hausle’ with me for 83, little did I realize that it would be our last creative collaboration.”

A.R. Rahman tweeted and said, “Dear KK… what’s the hurry buddy.. Gifted singers and artists like you made this life more bearable.”

Lewis mourned his long-time collaborator by recalling their time recording Pal.

Yuvan Shankar Raja, who often called on KK as a singer for Tamil films including 2004’s 7B Rainbow Colony, tweeted his condolences.