Zubeen Garg, best known for his chartbuster sing ‘Ya Ali’, passed away at the age of 52. While initial reports suggested a scuba diving accident, his wife, Garima Saikia Garg, clarified that the singer actually suffered a seizure while swimming. Zubeen, who was scheduled to perform at the North East India Festival on September 20 and 21, leaves behind a significant void in the Indian music industry.
In a statement to Times of India, Garima explained, “Zubeen, along with seven or eight others, including drummer Shekhar and Sidhartha, went to the island on a yacht. They swam together and returned to the shore on the yacht. All of them were wearing life jackets. But Zubeen went to swim again and suffered a seizure attack. He suffered seizure attacks on several occasions earlier but escaped death. Other team members rescued him after seeing something unusual. He was kept in the ICU at Singapore General Hospital for about two hours.”
Garima also addressed FIRs lodged against Zubeen’s manager, Siddharth Sarma, urging fans to support him. In a video shared on social media ahead of Zubeen’s funeral, she said in Assamese, “Zubeen must come back, and we will all get to see him one last time. Along with Zubeen, Siddharth, who has been like a brother to him from the very beginning, will also be coming. As you all know, in 2020, when Zubeen suffered a massive seizure, we had to go to Mumbai for further treatment. During COVID, when everything was shut down, Siddharth went out of his way to get us food and supplies, and even brought Zubeen back from Mumbai by bus.”
She further said, “Zubeen has always been our own, and whenever anyone spoke against Siddharth, Zubeen always stood by him. Please allow Siddharth to be part of Zubeen’s final journey. I request everyone to set aside any negative thoughts about Siddharth. I need all my people around me tomorrow, and I will need Siddharth’s support—without him, I cannot do anything. Zubeen has many unfinished tasks, and I cannot complete them alone. I also request that all FIRs filed against Siddharth be withdrawn.”
Who was Zubeen Garg?
Zubeen Garg was a popular Assamese, Bengali and Hindi singer, but also sang in over 40 languages. Zubeen started his career as a professional singer in 1992 and released his debut album ‘Anamika’. He later recorded his first songs, ‘Tumi Junu Pariba Hun’ and ‘Tumi Junaki Hubakh’ in 1993. He released his first bihu album, Ujan Piriti, before moving to Mumbai in 1995.
The late singer made his debut in Bollywood with the Inipop album ‘Chandni Raat’ and later recorded several songs for ‘Chanda’, ‘Shradhaanjali’, ‘Sparsh’ and many more. He also lent his voice to the songs for several movies, ‘Gaddaar’, ‘Dil Se’, ‘Doli Saja Ke Rakhna’, ‘Fiza’, and ‘Kaante’.
Zubeen married Garima Saikia, a fashion designer, in 2002. He was born into an Assamese Brahmin family in Meghalaya, but considered himself irreligious. He also got into controversies due to his different opinions on caste and religion.
Zubeen’s funeral arrangements are underway. His mortal remains are expected to arrive in Delhi at midnight.
