Veteran singer-composer Bappi Lahiri dies in Mumbai at 69

Veteran singer-composer Bappi Lahiri died in a Mumbai hospital following multiple health issues. The news of his death was confirmed by hospital doctor. He died on Tuesday night at Mumbai’s CritiCare Hospital in Juhu. He was 69. The last rites will be performed on Thursday, said a relative, reported ANI, according to Hindustan Times.

“Bappi Lahiri was suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and recurrent chest infection. He was hospitalised in CritiCare Hospital, Juhu for 29 days with this. He recovered well and was discharged (for) home on Feb 15. However, after a day at home, his health again deteriorated and he was brought back to CritiCare hospital in a critical state and succumbed to his illness at about 11.45 pm. He suffered from Covid infection last year. He had OSA for the last 1 year,” Dr Deepak Namjoshi, director of the hospital, told ANI.

Fondly known as Bappi da, he was as much known for his hit numbers as he was for his fascination for gold. Bappi Lahiri was known as the true blue ‘Disco King’ of Bollywood of the 80s and 90s, especially for his widely popular songs for films such as Namak Halaal, Disco Dancer and Dance Dance.

He also composed songs for movies such as Himmatwala, Sharaabi, Adventures of Tarzan, Satyamev Jayate, Commando, Aaj Ke Shahenshah, Thanedaar, Numbri Aadmi and Shola Aur Shabnam, among others. The singer-composer’s first big Bollywood hit score was for Aamir Khan’s father Tahir Hussain’s film Zakhmee.

In the last decade, Bappi Lahiri sang songs such as Ooh La La for The Dirty Picture, Tune Maari Entriyaan for Gunday, Tamma Tamma for Badrinath Ki Dulhania, and more recently, Areey Pyar Kar Le for Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. He last composed the song Bhankas for the 2020 movie Baaghi 3.

Speaking to Hindustan Times in a 2020 interview, he had talked about the trend of recreating old classics, and said, “The trend started with recreation of my old song Tamma Tamma in Badrinath Ki Dulhania. I don’t want to comment on it. Public’s choice is the top most choice. Public is my everything.”

Last year, the musician was admitted to Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai after being diagnosed with Covid-19. In September, the singer-composer had rubbished reports about his ill health, telling Hindustan Times: “I am shocked to see so many reports stating that I’ve lost my voice. It’s ridiculous and I’m really unhappy.”