KK or KK (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 known for his popular soulful 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 Jaane” from Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) and “Tu Jo Mila” from Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015). He died of suspected heart failure on 31 May 2022 at Nazrul Manch Auditorium, Kolkata.
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Wiki/Biography
Krishna Kumar Kunnath was born on Friday, 23 August 1968 (age 53 years; at the time of death) in Delhi. His zodiac sign is Virgo. He did his schooling from Mount St. Mary’s School, Delhi. After this, he did a course in commerce from Kirori Mal College, Delhi. After graduation, he moved to Mumbai, Maharashtra, where he started his career as a singer. KK was a singer since childhood and grew up participating in competitions and rock bands in school and college. In an interview, he revealed that he had enrolled in music classes for a while during his childhood, but dropped it because he never felt the need to learn music. They said,
I went there only for three days. I hated it because music knew no bounds to me and I couldn’t understand why anyone needed to learn to sing. So I left and never came back again.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 5″
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Family
parents and siblings
KK belonged to a Malayali family living in Thrissur district of Kerala. His father’s name is CS Nair and mother’s name is Kunnath Kanakavalli.
wife and kids
In 1991, KK married his longtime girlfriend Jyoti Lakshmi Krishna. He is a professional painter.
KK and Jyoti Krishna on their wedding day
Together, they have a son, Nakul Krishna Kunnath and a daughter, Tamara Kunnath. Both of them are singers, composers and music producers.
KK with his wife Jyoti and kids
relationships/affairs
KK proposed his girlfriend Jyothi Lakshmi in 10th standard. In an interview, he revealed that he sang “Pyaar Deewana Hota Hai” for Jyoti at their colony’s annual function. Talking about the same, he said,
At that time, parents were also sitting, so they could not be direct like this, so they used to sing three times in between.
(Our parents used to be there at that time too, so I couldn’t be so direct. So, I used to avert my eyes while singing)
At the time, he was unemployed, so she got a job in sales in order to marry him. To become a suitable groom, he worked in sales for six months. During an interview, he told his love story in a fun way and said,
It was necessary to have a job, otherwise if I say that I sing, he would say that I am also singing, what work do I do?
(I had to have a job or else they would ask me what I do, and ignore me if I said I sing)
KK and Jyoti Krishna
KK and Jyoti Krishna
livelihood
Before venturing into the music industry, he worked in the marketing department in the hotel industry for some time and then moved to Mumbai. After several unsuccessful attempts to enter the Bollywood music circuit, KK got an opportunity to work as a jingle singer when he presented his demo tapes to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot and Lesley Lewis in 1994. Soon, he got a break from UTV, and sang a one-minute jingle for Centogen Suitings.
He sang over 3,500 jingles in eleven Indian languages, including Yo Fruity and Pepsi’s Yeh Dil Maange More. KK also lent his voice to the song ‘Josh of India’ in support of the Indian cricket team during 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 also voiced the Telugu versions of the songs. The following year, she lent her voice to the song “Strawberry Kanne” for the Tamil film Minsara Kanavu and the Hindi version “Strawberry Aankhen” for its dubbed version Sapnay. In 2004, she ventured into the Kannada film industry when she lent her voice to the songs “Alu Bannada” and “Margayare” in the film Love (2004). She also lent her voice for the songs “Yedu Rangula Prema” and “Margayare” in the Telugu version of the film titled ‘Prema Nagar’.
music album
In 1999, he came into limelight with his debut album, Pal, which was released through Sony Music India and composed by Lesley Lewis. The songs “Pal” and “Yaaro” from the album gained immense popularity among the youth of the 90s and were commonly played at school and college farewell functions at that time.
KK’s first album Pal
Although KK got massive recognition from his debut album, he chose to pursue a career in playback singing instead of making independent music to gain fame in Bollywood. Talking about the same in an interview, he said,
For me, both the ‘Pal’ and ‘Tadap-Tadap’ of ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ happened at the same time. Suddenly two roads came in front of me. I felt that nothing could beat the popularity that the film route could give. To make one’s own music, one has to break away from one’s surroundings, which was not my intention.”
In 2008, he released his second album, Humsafar, which included the song Raina Bhai Kari, a mix of Bengali Baul with Rock and SD Burman.
Bollywood
KK made his Bollywood debut as a playback singer with the song ‘Chhod Aaye Hum Galiyan Chhod Aaye Hum’ by Indian composer Vishal Bhardwaj in the action drama film Maachis (1996). This song was sung by Hariharan, Suresh Wadkar, Vinod Sehgal and KK together. In 1999, KK gained popularity with AR Rahman’s chartbuster soundtrack ‘Tadap Tadap’, which featured in the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Another crowd puller sung by him is “Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe” from the 2001 upcoming film Dil Chahta Hai; The song was sung by Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan and KK. She had several popular playback credits, including ‘Sach Keh Raha Hai’ from Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein (2001), ‘Zara Sa’ and ‘Dil Ibadat’ from Jannat (2008) and ‘Piya Aaye Na’ from Aashiqui 2 (2013). His last released song was ‘Yeh Hausla’ from the film 83 (2021).
other languages
In the 2000 Assamese music album ‘Mann’, she lent her voice to the songs “Mann Dilo” and “Kajol Tumi”. His song “Cinerea” from the album Humsafar (2008) is an English rock number. He sang his first Malayalam song “Rahasyamaya” in 2009 for the film Puthiya Mukham. She lent her voice to the Bengali song Akasher Nile for the film Fande Poriya Boga Kande Re in 2011. In 2013, KK lent her voice to the song “Rose of My Heart” from Turkish poet Fethullah Gülen’s international album “Rise Up (Colors of Peace)”. The album consisted of songs sung by various artists from 12 countries. The song “Ved Lagiye He” from the film Friendship.com (2014) marked KK’s debut in the Marathi film industry. Subsequently, she lent her voice to various Marathi songs such as “Hi Tarunai” from Spandan (2017). Her first Gujarati song was “Tari Mari Vaato”, which was featured in the film Order Out of Order (2018).
Television
He was a jury member of the talent hunt show Fame Gurukul (2005). She also featured in MTV Coke Studio, in which she recreated a version of her song ‘Tu Aashiqui Hain’. Other TV shows in which he appeared in are Sony Mix TV Show and MTV Unplugged Season 3. He gave voice to the title songs of several TV series like Just Mohabbat, Shaka Laka Boom Boom, Kuch Jhukki Si Palkein, Hip Hip Hurray, Kakvyanjali and Just Dance. In 2008, KK sang a song titled “Tanha Chala” for the Pakistani TV show The Ghost. Also, he collaborated with Shreya Ghoshal for the theme song of Star Parivaar Awards (2010).
Prize
- 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 film “Jhankar Beats” in 2003
- Goldie Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer for the song “Chalte Jaana Hai” from the film “Life”, US. camera action…” in 2012
- Screen Awards (2009) Best Playback Singer (Male) for the song “Khuda Jaane” from the film Bachna Ae Haseeno
- Hub Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 2005
- Filmfare Awards South (Kannada) 2010 in the category Best Playback Singer – Male
- Inam-Swaralaya Singer of the Year Award (2012)
Death
On 31 May 2022, he died of suspected heart failure after reaching his hotel, following a performance at the Nazrul Manch Auditorium in Kolkata. Reportedly, around 10.30 pm, when the singer reached his hotel, he complained of feeling unwell, following which he was rushed to a city hospital, where he was declared brought dead. However, the Kolkata Police registered it as a case of unnatural death. Reportedly, he had injuries on his face and head, so an autopsy was to be conducted at Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital to ascertain the cause of death. His last rites were performed at the Versova Hindu Cemetery in Mumbai.
KK during his performance at Nazrul Manch in Kolkata on 31 May 2022
KK’s wife Jyoti Krishna paying last respects to her husband
Favorite
- Cuisine: South Indian, Italian
- Music Band: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Extreme, Eagles
fact
- Interestingly, the popular singer never had any formal training in music.
- Her first song on stage was ABBA’s Fernando.
- He credits Lesley Lewis for being his mentor in the world of advertising jingles.
Keke and Lesley Lewis
- KK’s 13-year-old son Nakul sang a song titled ‘Masti’ with him in his album Humsafar (2008).
- He came from a family with a musical background as his father was passionate about music, his mother performed music and his maternal grandmother was a music teacher.
- His interest in music started from his school days. He used to listen to his mother’s Malayalam songs, which his father used to record on a small tape recorder.
- He gave his first stage performance during his school days when he was studying in class 2. He sang the song ‘Jab Andhera Hota Hai’ from the movie “Raja Rani (1973)”.
- On his wedding day, he sang Mohammed Rafi’s song “Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hain” for his wife.
- After singing his first jingle, music director Ranjit Barot approached KK about the cost of his work. Completely ignorant of the industry’s payment system, KK was hesitant to answer. Later, when Ranjit shows all five of his fingers, KK expects to be paid Rs. 500, but, to his surprise, he got Rs. 5000.
- The song ‘Maa’ from the movie “Taare Zameen Par (2007)” was initially recorded by KK. After recording the song, KK went on a holiday. Later he was asked to make some changes in the song, but he was unable to do so, so the song went to Shankar Mahadevan.
- In August 2021, he bought Audi RS5.
KK with his Audi RS5
See more: Anjali Tendulkar Wiki
Anjali Arora Wiki
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn