Birth name Krishnakumar Kunnath Occupation(s) Singer, composer Full name Krishnakumar Kunnath Also known as Kay Kay, K. K. Role Playback Singer | Name Krishnakumar Kunnath Movies Dashavatar Instruments Vocal Spouse Jyothy Krishna (m. 1991) | |
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Genres Playback singing, Indipop Similar People Sunidhi Chauhan, Pritam Chakraborty, Shreya Ghoshal, Shaan, Vishal Dadlani Years active 1996–2022 Died 31 May 2022 (aged 53) Kolkata, West Bengal, India Profiles | ||
KK - Pyaar Ke Pal
Krishnakumar Kunnath (23 August 1968 – 31 May 2022), popularly known as KK, K.K. or Kay Kay (Hindi: केके),(Malayalam:കൃഷ്ണകുമാർ കുന്നത്ത്, (Bengali: কেকে) was an Indian singer. He was a prominent singer in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada and Malayalam films.
Contents
- KK Pyaar Ke Pal
- Best Of KK 15 Hit Songs
- Personal life
- Vocals and musical style
- Career
- Playback singing
- Albums and television
- Other projects
- Albums
- Selected songs
- In conversation with the media shy singer kk
- Death
- References
KK was widely considered as one of the most versatile & influened singers of India. KK has a broad vocal range, a heart-touching voice & is being called "The Mesmerizer". Some of his most popular songs are "Ajab Si", "Tadap Tadap", "Khuda Jaane", "Ding Dong", "Tune Maari Entriyaan", "Zindagi Do Pal Ki", "Haan Tu Hain", "Dil Kyun Yeh Mera", "Sach Keh Raha Hai Deewana", "Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai", "Beete Lamhein", "It's The Time To Disco", "Zara Si Dil Mein", "Pyaar Ke Pal", "Yaaron Dosti", "Teri Yaadon Mein", "Tu Jo Mila", "Make Some Noise For The Desi Boyz", "Dus Bahaane", "Mujhko Pehchaanlo", "Tu Aashiqui Hai", "Aashaayen", "Kabhi Khusboo", "Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar", "Bas Ek Pal", "Kaise Bataaoon" & so many more.
Best Of KK - 15 Hit Songs
Personal life
Born in Delhi to Malayali parents C.S. Nair and K. Kanakavalli, Krishnakumar Kunnath was brought up in New Delhi. KK sang 3,500 jingles before breaking into Bollywood. He was an alumnus of Delhi's Mount St Mary's School. He sang in the "Josh of India" song for the support of Indian Cricket Team during Cricket World Cup of 1999.
KK married his childhood sweetheart Jyothi Krishna in 1991. His son Nakul Krishna sang a song "Masti" from his latest album Humsafar with him. KK also had a daughter named Taamara who, according to KK, loves playing piano. KK says that his family is his source of energy.
Vocals and musical style
KK greatly influenced by the singer Kishore Kumar and music director R. D. Burman. Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Bryan Adams are also favourite international singers of KK. KK said that it is not important for a singer's face to be prominently seen – saying he believes the important thing is that "a singer must be heard." KK had never undergone any formal training in music.
Career
After graduating from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University in commerce. KK had a brief stint of eight months as marketing executive in the hotel industry. After few years, in 1994, he moved to Mumbai.
Playback singing
In 1994, he gave his demo tape to Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot and Lesle Lewis to get a break in the music arena. He was called by UTV and he sang a jingle for Santogen Suiting ad. In a span of four years, he sung more than 3,500 jingles in 11 Indian languages. He got the first break in Mumbai from UTV to sing jingles. He considers Lesle Lewis as his mentor for giving him his first jingle to sing in Mumbai. KK was introduced as a playback singer with A. R. Rahman's hit song "College Styley" and "Hello Dr." from Kadir's Kadhal Desam and then "Strawberry Kannae" from AVM Productions's musical film Minsara Kanavu (1997). Pritam Chakraborty is also a fan of him. He got his Bollywood break with "Tadap Tadap" from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999). He also won prestigious National Award for "Tu Aashiqui Hai" from movie Jhankar Beats in 2004. However, prior to this song he had sung a small portion of the song "Chhod Aaye Hum" from Gulzar's Maachis. Till now, KK had sung more than 500 songs in Hindi and more than 200 songs in Telugu, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages. He worked with almost every music director of Hindi film industry active from 1999. He lent his voice to the biggest hit song of the year 2014 "Tune Maari Entriyaan" among several others in Gunday. KK's song from the movie Bajrangi Bhaijaan called "Tu Jo Mila" had become a rage, many times remained No.1 on iTunes. Popular singer Arijit Singh claims, he has been inspired by KK in singing, and is a big fan of KK. Another popular Bollywood singer, Ankit Tiwari also claims, he has been greatly influenced by KK and he takes KK as his idol and inspiration.
Albums and television
On 22 January 2008, KK released his second album Humsafar after a gap of eight years. The songs "Aasman Ke", "Dekho Na", "Yeh Kahan Mil Gaye Hum" and "Rain Bhai Kaari (Maajhi)" are famous songs from this album. Besides, KK had also sung an English Rock Ballad "Cineraria". The title track, "Humsafar" is a mix of English and Hindi lyrics. The album Humsafar has 10 songs, out of which eight have been composed by KK. The other two songs were taken from his previous album Pal.
KK has also sung many television serial songs like Just Mohabbat, Shaka Laka Boom Boom, Kuch Jhuki Si Palkein, Kavyanjali, Just Dance . He had sung the theme song for Star Parivaar Awards 2010 with Shreya Ghoshal. KK appeared on television too. He was invited as jury member for a talent hunt show Fame Gurukul.
KK also has sung a song named "Tanha Chala" for famous Pakistani TV show "THE GHOST" which was aired on Hum TV in 2008. The song was composed by Farrukh Abid & Shoiab Farrukh & Momina Duraid penned the lyrics.
KK participated in the latest musical venture of MTV India Coke Studio. There he sang one qawwali "Chadta Suraj" along with Sabri Brothers and a recomposed version of his exquisite track "Tu Aashiqui Hai" from movie Jhankaar Beats. He also came in 'Surili Baat' in Aaj Tak Chanel. He has also performed in Sony Mix TV Show and MTV Unplugged Season 3, aired on MTV 11 January 2014.KK was in Dubai for his concert 'Salaam Dubai 2014'in April. He also did recent concerts in Goa, Dubai & Chennai.Hong kong.
On 29 August 2015, KK appeared in the glorious television singing reality show Indian Idol Junior Season 2 to cheer up the emerging singers of India where he performed "Khuda Jaane", "Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar", "Make Some Noise For The Desi Boyz", "Ajab Si", "Sach Kehraha Hai Deewana" and many more songs with the junior idols and "Tu Aashiqui Hai" with Vishal Dadlani, "Aashaayen" with Salim Merchant and "Tadap Tadap" with Sonakshi Sinha.
Other projects
In 2013, KK sang for an international album, Rise Up - Colors of Peace, which consists of songs written by Turkish poet Fetullah Gulen and sung by artists from 12 countries. KK recorded a song named "Rose of My Heart" for the album.
In 2010, the Indi Band "Bandish" produced their second self-titled album. The album has a high energy track in the album Tere Bin — a rock ballad sung by KK.
Albums
His debut album Pal was released in April 1999. The album received a Star Screen Award from Screen India for Best Solo Album.
His second album, Humsafar, was released nine years later, in January 2008. It belongs to the pop-rock genre and has a total of 10 songs. Humsafar has two songs that are repeated from his earlier album Pal – "Din Ho Ya Raat" and "Mehki Hawa". The video for a romantic song on the album, "Aasman Ke", features the singer and south Indian model Suhasi Goradia Dhami. "Humsafar", the title track, is a mix of English and Hindi lyrics. and is about one's conscience and how it is a constant companion in the journey of life. One of the songs, "Yeh Kahan Mil Gaye Hum", was penned seven years before the release. "Dekho Na", a rock number, was written six years prior. The remaining six songs were developed in the last two years before the release. Other songs in the album include "Rain Bhai Kaari (Maajhi)", a mix of Bengali Baul with rock with a tinge of S D Burman, and "Cineraria", a fun-filled English ballad. KK himself wrote the lyrics of "Cineraria" and the English part of "Humsafar", the title track, while the remaining tracks were written by others.
Selected songs
In conversation with the media shy singer kk
Death
On 31 May 2022, KK performed at a college fest at Nazrul Mancha auditorium, in South Kolkata. He complained of feeling unwell soon after his performance on the way back to his hotel, where he suffered a cardiac arrest. Efforts to revive him at the hotel were unsuccessful, and he was subsequently taken to hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. He was 53 years old at the time of his death. On 1 June 2022, Kolkata Police registered a case of unnatural death to investigate the causes. His autopsy report mentioned myocardial infraction (heart attack) as the likely cause of death.
KK was given a gun salute by the West Bengal government.
Newspaper Deccan Herald called him the "voice of love" while reporting his death. According to The Times of India, he was the most versatile singer in the bollywood music industry. Newspaper The Hindu noted, "Till the end, he remained a rage in the concert circuit and will be remembered as the singer who became the voice of the heart".