Remembering KK on his 54th birth anniversary: Let’s look at some of his rare pictures and unknown facts

New Delhi: Singer KK left our hearts in aches with his untimely demise due to a heart attack while he was performing in Kolkata. Today marks the singer’s 54th birth anniversary. While remembering him, let’s take a look at some of the singer’s unseen pictures and unknown facts.

Hailing from Delhi, Krishnakumar Kunnath aka KK made to Bollywood with his song Tadap Tadap from the hit film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Besides, he sang over 3,500 jingles before getting his big break. The singer’s first Bollywood song was Chhod Aye Hum from the film Maachis, however, it was Tarap Tarap that brought him to the limelight.

In 1991, KK got married to Jyothy Krishna before he started his music career. Reportedly, they were childhood sweethearts. KK first saw her when he was in sixth grade. They have two children – Nakul and Taamara.

A 2013 video from Sony Music India showed KK talking about Jyothy stating, “My wife Jyoti became the reason for me to move to Bombay. She made me take decision which on my own I would not have taken. She helped me get out of certain state of mind, she continues to do that even now. It worked well for me that I got married before I settled down and she helped me in settling down.”

On May 31, KK fell ill while he was performing at an ongoing concert at Nazul Manch in Kolkata. Later, he was taken to the CMRI hospital in South Kolkata. However, the doctors declared him dead upon his arrival.

Remembering the “kind, soft-spoken” musician, singer Nikhil Alva shared some unseen photos with KK on Twitter. Sharing the pictures, he captioned, “We all have albums and things of our past that are important to us. So, this was something that I felt like sharing.”

The pictures showed when in 1989, Nikhil Alva, Julius Packiam, Ravi Ramachandran, and KK visited Pyongyang, North Korea as a group and represented India during the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students.

Reportedly, KK had no formal training in music, however, emerged as one of the most successful and popular singers of the late 90s and 2000s. There are several songs of his in different languages including – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali. Some of his best songs are Tu Aashiqui Hai from Jhankaar Beats for which he got a National Award, then comes It’s The Time To Disco from Kal Ho Naa Ho, Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai from Gangster – A Love Story, and Khuda Jaane from Bachna Ae Haseeno, amongst others.