KK or Kay Kay (1968-2022) was an Indian singer known for recording songs in various languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati. He is well known for his popular spiritual songs ‘Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai’ from Woh Lamhe… (2006), ‘Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai’ from Gangster (2007), ‘Aankhon Mein Teri’ from Om Shanti Om (2007), ‘Khuda Jane’ from Bachna (Ae Joujangi) (2015)”. On 31 May 2022, he died of suspected cardiac arrest at Nazrul Mancha Auditorium in Kolkata.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Krishna Kumar Kunath was born on Friday, 23 August 1968 (age 53; at time of death) in Delhi. Her zodiac sign is Virgo. He studied at St. Mary’s School in Delhi. After that, he pursued a course in commerce at Kiriyor Mall College, Delhi. After graduation, he moved to Mumbai, Maharashtra, where he began his career as a singer. KK has been a vocalist since childhood and grew up participating in pageants and rock bands in school and college. In an interview, she revealed that she enrolled in music classes for a while as a child, but never felt the need to study music, so she dropped out. She said,
I went there for only three days. I hated it because for me music had no boundaries and I couldn’t see why I needed to learn to sing. That’s why I left and never came back.”
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′5″
Eye Color: Black
Hair color: black
family
parents and siblings
KK belonged to a Malayali family hailing from the Thrissur district of Kerala. Father’s name is CS Nair and mother’s name is Kunnath Kanakavalli.
wife and children
In 1991, KK married his longtime girlfriend Jyothi Lakshmi Krishna. He is a professional artist.
KK and Jyothi Krishna on their wedding day
Together they have a son, Nakul Krishna Kunath, and a daughter, Tamara Kunath. Both of them are singers, music composers and music producers.
KK with his wife Jyoth and children
Relationships/affairs
KK proposed to his girlfriend Jyothi Lakshmi in 10th standard. In an interview, he revealed that he sang ‘Pyaar Deewana Hota Hai’ for Jyothy at her colony’s annual event. Speaking on the same topic, he said:
Uss time mummy papa bhi baithe hote the, toh aise direct bhi nahi ho sakte the, toh beech beech mein teen chaar baar steal kar liya gaate gaate”
(Then our parents were there too, I couldn’t be so direct. I stole glances during the song)
He was unemployed then, so he got a job in sales and got married. He continued to work in sales for six months to be a suitable groom. During the interview, cheerfully recounting her love story, she said:
Yobi karni zaroori thi, nahi toh main agari bolta ki main gaata hun, toh wo bolte gaata toh main bhi hun, kaam kia karte ho?
(I had to get a job, otherwise they would ask me what I do and ignore me if I told them I sing)
KK and Jyothi Krishna
KK and Jyothi Krishna
Career
Before joining the music industry, he worked for a while in the marketing department in the hotel industry before moving to Mumbai. After many failed attempts to break into the Bollywood music circuit, KK got an opportunity to work as a jingle singer when he submitted his demo tapes to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot and Lesle Lewis in 1994. Soon after, he took a break from UTV to sing a one-minute jingle for Santogen Suitings.
He has sung more than 3,500 jingles in eleven Indian languages, including Yo Frooti and Pepsi’s Yeh Dil Mange More. KK also lent his voice to the song “Josh of India” in support of the Indian cricket team at the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
Dubbed songs
KK was introduced as a playback singer with the songs “College Style” and “Hello Dr” composed by AR Rahman, which were featured in the film Duniya Dilwalon Ki (1996), the Hindi dubbed version of the Tamil film Kadhal Desam (1996). KK has also voiced the Telugu versions of the songs. The following year, he dubbed the song “Strawberry Kannae” for the Tamil film Minsara Kanavu and its Hindi version “Strawberry Ankhein” for the dubbed version Sapnay. In 2004, he entered the Kannada film industry when he dubbed for the songs “Elu Bannada” and “Maargayare” in the film Love (2004). He also dubbed for the songs ‘Yedu Rangula Prema’ and ‘Maargayare’ in the Telugu version of the film titled ‘Prema Nagar’.
Music albums
In 1999, he came into limelight with his debut album Pal, released through Sony Music India and composed by Leslie Lewis. The songs “Pal” and “Yaaron” from the album became very popular among the youth of the 90s and were usually played at school and college farewells during that time.
KK’s debut album Pal
Although KK gained much recognition with his debut album, he chose to pursue a career in playback singing instead of independent music production to gain the fame that Bollywood offers. Speaking in an interview on the same topic, he said:
For me both ‘Pal’ and ‘Tadap tadap’ from ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ happened simultaneously. Suddenly there were two roads in front of me. I felt that no one could beat the popularity that a film route can bring. To create your own music, you had to disconnect from the environment, which I wasn’t going to do.”
In 2008, he released his second album Humsafar, which included the song Raina Bhai Kaari, a mix of Bengali Baul with rock and a touch of SD Burman.
Bollywood
KK made his Bollywood debut as a playback singer with Indian music composer Vishal Bhardwaj’s song “Chhod Aaye Hum Galiyan Chhod Aaye Hum” in the action drama film Maachis (1996). The song was jointly sung by Hariharan, Suresh Wadkar, Vinod Segal and K.K. In 1999, KK shot to fame with AR Rahman’s chartbuster soundtrack ‘Tadap Tadap’ featured in the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Another crowd-pleasing song rendered by him is ‘Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe’ from the 2001 coming-of-age film ‘Dil Chahta Hai;’ The song has been sung jointly by Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan and K.K. He has had many popular hit songs including “Such Keh Raha Hai” from Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001), “Zara Sa” and “Dil Ibaadat” from Jannat (2008) and “Piya Aaye Na” from Aashiqui 2 (2013). His last released song was ‘Yeh Hausle’ from the movie 83 (2021).
Other languages
In the 2000 Assamese music album ‘Mann’, she lent her voice to the songs ‘Man Dilo’ and ‘Kajol Tumi’. His song “Cineraria”, from the album Humsafar (2008), is an English rock number. He rendered his first Malayalam song “Rahasyamay” in 2009 for the film Puthiya Mukham. He dubbed his Bengali song, Akasher Nile, for the 2011 film Faande Poriya Boga Kaande Re. In 2013, KK lent his voice to the song “Rose of My Heart” for Turkish poet Fethullah Gülen’s international album “Rise Up (Colors of Peace)”. The album contained songs by different artists from 12 countries. The song “Ved Lagale Hey” from the film Friendship Dot Com (2014) marked KK’s debut in the Marathi film industry. After that, he lent his voice to various Marathi songs like “Hi Tarunai” from Spandan (2017). Her debut Gujarati song was ‘Tari Mari Vato’ which was featured in the movie Order Order Out Of Order (2018).
television
He was a judge on the talent hunt show Fame Gurukul (2005). He also participated in the MTV Coke studio where he recreated a version of his song ‘Tu Aashiqui Hain’. Other TV shows he has appeared in include Sony Mix TV Show and MTV Unplugged Season 3. He has voiced the title songs of many TV serials like Just Mohabbat, Shaka Laka Boom Boom, Kuch Jhuki Si Palkein, Hip Hip Hurray, Kkavyanjali and Just Dance. In 2008, KK sang a song titled “Tanha Chala” for the Pakistani TV show The Ghost. Additionally, she collaborated with Shreya Ghoshal for the theme song of Star Parivaar Awards (2010).
ᐯildo
- Best Singer in the Non-Film Music category at the Screen Awards (1999) for the album Pal
- National Award for “Tu Aashiqui Hai” from the movie “Jhankaar Beats” in 2003.
- Goldie Film Awards, USA Best Playback Singer for “Chalte Jaana Hain” from “Life! Camera Action…” in 2012
- Best Singer (Male) at Screen Awards (2009) for the song “Khuda Jaane” from Bachna Ae Haseeno
- Hub Awards 2005 for Best Male Singer
- Filmfare Awards South (Canada) 2010 in the category of Best Male Singer
- Eenam-Swaralaya Singer of the Year Award (2012)
death
On 31 May 2022, he died of suspected cardiac arrest after arriving at a hotel after a performance at the Nazrul Mancha Auditorium in Kolkata. According to reports, around 10:30 pm when the singer reached his hotel, he complained of feeling unwell, after which he was rushed to a city hospital where he was declared brought dead. However, the Kolkata Police registered it as an unnatural death. According to reports, there were injuries on the face and head, so an autopsy was scheduled at Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital to determine the cause of death. He was cremated at Versova Hindu Cemetery in Mumbai.
KK during a performance at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata on 31st May 2022
KK’s wife Jyothi Krishna pays her last respects to her husband
the chosen ones
- Cuisine: South Indian, Italian
- Music group(s): Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Extreme, Eagles
The facts
- Interestingly, the popular singer never had any formal training in music.
- The first song he performed on stage was Fernando by ABBA.
- He named Leslie Lewis as his mentor in the world of advertising jingles.
KK and Lesle Lewis
- KK’s 13-year-old son Nakul sang a song titled “Masti” in his album Humsafar (2008).
- He belonged to a family of musical origin, as his father was very fond of music, his mother performed music, and his grandmother was a music teacher.
- Interest in music began during school. He used to listen to his mother’s Malayalam songs, which his father would record on a small tape recorder.
- He presented his first play at school when he was in 2nd grade. He sang ‘Jab Andhera Hota Hai’ from the movie ‘Raja Rani’ (1973).
- On his wedding day, he sang Muhammad Rafi’s song ‘Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hain’ for his wife.
- After he sang his first jingle, music director Ranjit Barot approached KK about the value of his work. Completely unaware of the industry’s payment system, KK was afraid to answer. Later, when Ranjith flashed five fingers, K.K. He expected to be paid GEL. 500 but, to his surprise, he got Rs. 5000.
- The song “Maa” from the movie “Taare Zameen Par (2007)” was originally recorded by KK. After recording the song, KK went on vacation. He was later asked to make some changes in the song but as he was unable to do so, the song went to Shankar Mahadevan.
- In August 2021, he bought an Audi RS5.
KK with his Audi RS5
Categories: Biography
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
