The music world mourns the loss of Zubeen Garg, best known for his song ‘Ya Ali,’ who died at the age of 52. Contrary to initial reports, his wife, Garima Saikia Garg, confirmed that the singer died from a seizure while swimming. Garg was scheduled to perform at the North East India Festival in late September, leaving a major gap in the Indian music scene.
Garima stated that Zubeen, along with several others including drummer Shekhar and Sidhartha, visited an island via yacht. They were swimming and returned to the shore on the yacht, all wearing life jackets. Zubeen then went for another swim and experienced a seizure. He had previous seizure episodes. His team members rescued him after noticing something amiss. He was treated in the ICU at Singapore General Hospital for about two hours.
Additionally, Garima spoke out about FIRs filed against Zubeen’s manager, Siddharth Sarma, asking for support. She shared a video on social media before the funeral, in which she spoke of Siddharth’s unwavering support and assistance, particularly during a prior health crisis and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. She urged fans to disregard any negative feelings towards Siddharth, asking for his presence and support in managing Zubeen’s affairs, including pending projects.
Zubeen Garg was a well-known singer in Assamese, Bengali, and Hindi, and he sang in over 40 languages. His career started in 1992 with the album ‘Anamika’. He recorded his first songs, ‘Tumi Junu Pariba Hun’ and ‘Tumi Junaki Hubakh’ in 1993, and released his first bihu album, Ujan Piriti, before moving to Mumbai in 1995. His Bollywood debut came with the Inipop album ‘Chandni Raat’. He sang for several films, including ‘Gaddaar’, ‘Dil Se’, ‘Doli Saja Ke Rakhna’, ‘Fiza’, and ‘Kaante’. He married fashion designer Garima Saikia in 2002. He was born into an Assamese Brahmin family, but considered himself irreligious and often expressed controversial opinions about caste and religion. His funeral arrangements are underway, and his remains are expected to arrive in Delhi at midnight.