Bappi Lahiri, the king of disco-pop, passed away

Bappi Lahiri, 69, who pioneered disco-pop and commanded India’s charts in the 1970s and 1980s with a succession of chart-topping tunes, died on Tuesday in Mumbai of obstructive sleep apnea. The singer had been hospitalized for about a month and was discharged on Monday. Bappa Lahiri and Rema Lahiri are his surviving children.

Prior to the Soviet Union’s downfall in 1991, 1980s Russia was obsessed with Bappi Lahiri’s ‘Jimmy Jimmy, Aaja Aaja, a popular disco-pop track from Mithun Chakravarty’s Disco Dancer. The world’s largest country, devoid of ‘western’ popular culture, listened and grooved to Lahiri’s disco, complete with sparkling bell-bottoms, hundreds of twinkling light bulbs, and pelvic motions accompanied by synths, horns, rhythm guitars, and syncopated basslines.

Bappi Lahiri was born in the family of Vocalists

Lahiri’s musical influences include his parents – Bengali vocalists Aparesh and Bansuri Lahiri – who raised him in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, and his maternal uncle, actor and playback singer Kishore Kumar. Lahiri arrived in Mumbai at the age of 19 and began making music in an industry influenced by the melodies of RD Burman, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, and Kalyanji-Anandji, among others. 

While he began his career with compositions for the Bengali film Daadu, he made his Bollywood debut two years later with the film Nanha Shikari (1973), which starred Deb Mukherjee and Tanuja. The film, directed by Tanuja’s husband Shomu Mukherjee, performed poorly on the musical charts. Lahiri finally knocked it out of the park with three films in three years – Zakhmee (1975), Chalte Chalte (1976), and Aapki Khatir (1977).

While Lata Mangeshkar’s ‘Aao tumhe chand pe le jaayen’ (Zakhmee) garnered attention, Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar’s ‘Jalta hai jiya mera’ had the nation swinging. Then came ‘Kabhi alvida na kehna,’ the title song for Chalte Chalte, which would serve as the band’s farewell song for years to come, followed by the lighthearted ‘Bambai se aaya mera dost.’

While the 1980s are not regarded as the pinnacle of Hindi movie music, Bappi Lahiri’s songs had an incalculable influence, establishing him as a pioneer of disco in India. He was the first Indian composer to be invited to the Grammy Jury in 2012 and briefly dabbled in politics. He joined the BJP in 2014 and ran unsuccessfully in the Lok Sabha election. However, Bappi Lahiri will forever be remembered as the musician who introduced disco to the masses and accelerated its rise. 

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