Papon bids adieu to his friend, and Assam’s cultural icon Zubeen Garg

Mumbai, Sep 24
Playback singer Papon, who is known for ‘Bulleya’, ‘Jiyein Kyun’, ‘Moh Moh Ke Dhaage’ and others, bid adieu to his fellow Assamese singer, the legendary Zubeen Garg.

On Wednesday, Papon took to his Instagram, and shared a picture of himself bidding farewell to the mortal remains of the legendary singer. He wrote in the caption, “Goodbye friend.... Be happy wherever you are”.

Zubeen was not just a singer but a cultural icon of Assam and India. He made his foray in mainstream music in 1990, and soon became a favourite of the masses in Assam. He soon turned towards Hindi film music at the dawn of the millennium. He made his Hindi music debut with ‘Jaane Kya Hoga Rama Re’ from ‘Kaante’, which was an unofficial remake of Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Reservoir Dogs’.

He gained wider recognition with ‘Ya Ali’ from ‘Gangster’. The song was a chartbuster, and defines an entire generation even after almost 2 decades.

He continued to make independent music in Hindi but made his base in Assam as he wanted to stay in his homeland. The late singer was also known for his political and cultural stance. He was one of the vocal voices against CAA in Assam.

In a career spanning more than 3 decades, Zubeen sang close to 38, 000 songs across all the major languages of India, a feat that only a few could achieve in the field of music. For perspective Kishore Kumar, who is considered as one of the most prolific and dangerously talented artistes, sang close to 3000 songs across languages, a tenth of the songs in Zubeen’s repertoire. His funeral saw more than a million people in attendance, making it the 4th largest gathering in the history of mankind.

The singer passed away on September 19, 2025 in Singapore during a swimming mishap. The cause of his death is being ascertained as a case of accidental drowning.