Jagjit Singh, the legendary Ghazal singer, passed away at 8 am in Lilavati Hospital on 10th October 2011. He was admitted on September 23rd after he suffered brain haemorrhage in a suburban Bandra Hospital. Since then he was in coma, and a rumor of him passing away also surfaced a week before his actual death. Jagjit Singh, also known as the King of Ghazals, would be remembered for his outstanding contributions in Indian music for popularizing ghazals. His voice had a tremendous soothing effect on the millions of listeners around the world. Lyricist Javed Akhtar, who paired with the singer numerous times to produce many wildly popular songs, once said “uski awaaz mein chain (calm) hain”. Singh also has some of the greatest hindi movie songs under his name, such as 'Tumko dekha to yeh khayal aaya' from Saath Saath (1982), 'Hothon Se Chhoo Lo Tum' from Prem Geet (1981), 'Tum Itna Jo Muskura' from Arth (1983), 'Chithi Na Koi Sandesh' from Dushman (1998), and many more.
His earliest Guru was Pandit Chaganlal Sharma under whom he learned music for two years in his hometown. Jagjit Singh then learnt the nuances of Indian Classical Music from Ustad Jamaal Khan of Sainia Gharana for six years. The Vice Chancellor of Punjab and Kurukshetra University, Late Professor Suraj Bhan encouraged his interest in music. He came to Mumbai in 1965 to become a playback singer and thus began his struggle. He began with singing in marriages and functions and jingles in ads during his days of struggle. It was during this period that he met Chitra whom he married after two years of courtship. Both decided to focus on the ghazal and expanding the market. Jagjit made 3 EP's, Chitra 2 and a Super Seven together. He got his first major break in the form of the Album The Unforgettable in 1976 which was a big hit and his first song in this was “Baat niklegi to phir door talak jayegi”. The “Unforgettable” 1976 changed the face of Ghazal and non-film music forever. Read more on Jagjit Singh biography.
Here's remembering the great singer through some of his unforgettable songs from the world of Hindi movies. Music Industry and Music Lovers have lost its one of the most precious gem. May God Bless his Soul. Ghazal Singing will never be same again. RIP Jagjit Singh.