Indian police announced on Wednesday that they are investigating the death at 53 right after a concert by KK, Bollywood star singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, whose real name is.

He died Tuesday night shortly after appearing on stage in front of a crowded room in Calcutta (Northeast). Taken on an emergency basis at around 22:30 from his hotel to the hospital, his death was announced by the doctors on the spot.

KK’s death was due to a “suspected heart attack”, said Aroop Biswas, a member of the government of the West Bengal state of which Calcutta is the capital.

But police are investigating the possibility of an “unnatural death” following press reports about the injuries to the singer’s face and head. An autopsy was scheduled for that day.

“We also interviewed hotel officials and reviewed CCTV footage to understand what happened before he was taken to hospital,” said police official Sanjoy Mukherjee.

Born in Delhi to a family from south India, this eclectic singer started by recording commercial jingles. He sings in Hindi as well as in Tamil, Telugu, Kannaga, Malayalam, Marathi or Bengali.

Like many other singers in India, his hits have been used in theaters by actors singing in screenings. Among his successes in the 2000s were titles such as “Aankhon Me Teri” from the film “Om Shanti Om” or “Khuda Jaane” in “Bachna Ae Haseeno”.

His departure sparked a shower of respect. “His songs reflect various emotions (and) touch people of all ages,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted as fans saluted his memory on Instagram.

Many refer to the lyrics of “Pal”, one of his Hindi songs which he performed at his last concert: “whether we live or not, we will remember this moment”.

The film and song scene in India has recently lost some of its biggest personalities, such as singer Lata Mangeshkar, who died at the age of 92 last February after ruling the peerless music of Bollywood, or actor Dilip Kumar who died in 2021 at the age of 98.

On Sunday, rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, popular in India as well as the Indian diaspora in Britain and Canada, was shot dead in the northern state of Punjab. Police called the tracks “gang rivalry”.

AFP