In a shocking turn of events, Assamese singer Zubeen Garg, who rose to fame with the hit song Ya Ali from the 2006 film Gangster starring Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, and Shiney Ahuja, has passed away in Singapore. He was in the city to attend the 4th North East India Festival at Suntec, where he was scheduled to perform on September 20.
Zubeen Garg Passes Away
According to several reports, Garg died in a tragic scuba diving accident. The Singapore police rescued him from the sea and rushed him to a nearby hospital, but despite intensive medical care, doctors were unable to save him.
Who Was Zubeen Garg?
Born on November 18, 1972, in Tura, Meghalaya, India, Zubeen Garg composed music for Assamese, Bengali, and Bollywood films. His father, Mohini Borthakur, was a magistrate as well as a lyricist and poet who wrote under the pen name Kapil Thakur, while his mother, the late Ily Borthakur, was a singer.
He completed his Class 10th at Tamulpur Higher Secondary School and later pursued a Bachelor of Science degree at B. Borooah College but eventually dropped out to focus on his singing career. In 2024, he was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.) degree by the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya.
Garg’s younger sister, Jongki Borthakur, who was also an actress and singer, tragically died in a car accident in February 2002 in Sonitpur district while on her way to a stage show with fellow artists.
Zubeen married Assam-based fashion designer Garima Saikia in 2002.
Reportedly, he was Assam's highest-paid singer for many years.
He also lent his voice to the popular song Dil Tu Hi Bataa from Kangana Ranaut and Hrithik Roshan’s film Krrish 3.
In 1995, Zubeen Garg moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in the Bollywood music industry, where he released his debut Indipop solo album Chandni Raat. He went on to record several Hindi albums, including Chanda, Shradhaanjali (Volumes 1, 2, and 3), Jalwa, Yuhi Kabhi, among others.
As a mark of respect, a 20-foot-tall statue of Zubeen Garg was erected in Digboi Town, Assam. The statue, created by artist Diganta Madhav Goswami, was unveiled by Zubeen himself in 2022 during the Nazirating Tamuli Tourism Festival in Digboi.
In 2022, Zubeen sustained a head injury and was airlifted to Guwahati. According to reports, the singer fell down in the washroom of a resort.
