Since the inception of the film entertainment industry, many singers made a big name for themselves because of the affection from their fans. Among many great names working in the music industry, Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK came with his boisterous yet mellifluous voice and made an instant connection with the youth. The songs ‘Yaroon’ and ‘Pyaar ke Pal’ from his album ‘PAL’ were such big hits that they became permanent members of the farewell playlist in school as well as in colleges.

KK the gifted singer

KK was a linguist in the music industry.  His singing prowess expanded to other Indian languages as well and even won him the Filmfare south award for Best Playback singer-male in the Kannada language. He started his playback singing career with AR Rahman’s hit songs ‘Kalluri Saaley’ and ‘Hello Dr’ from the Tamilian movie Kadhal Desam. He was even involved with the famous feet-tapping Tamilian song ‘Apadi podu’. It will be difficult to cope up with his loss.

8 Facts about KK you did not know

1. He was born in Delhi to Malayali parents C.S. Menon and Kunnath Kanakavalli. He completed his schooling at Delhi’s Mount St Mary’s School.
2. KK graduated in commerce from Kirori Mal College and worked as a marketing executive before starting his career in music.
3. His father and childhood sweetheart Jyoti, whom he married later, was always the source of confidence and support. With their support, he left his sales job and started work in the music industry.
4. Before giving his superhit album “PAL” KK started his music career by singing jingles for various advertisements. There are around 3500 jingles under his belt.
5. The famous playback singer Hariharan spotted KK while singing in Delhi (who became his mentor in the future) and he only encouraged him to move to Mumbai for a career in playback singing. Even in his debut song for Bollywood Chod Aaye Hum Voh Galiyan’ from the movie “MAACHIS” one of his co-singers was Hariharan. The song was a big hit among the viewers.
6. The late singer was greatly influenced by Kishore Kumar and his songs inspired him. Kumar’s songs were one of his initial influences.
7. KK was a natural and he learned the song only by hearing it. He is not a trained classical musician though he joined classes but could not continue because he thought they were not made for him. He got the encouragement further when he learned that Kishore Kumar was also not a music school graduate.
8. He not only sang in Hindi but also in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati, and Assamese. Moreover, he debuted as a playback singer with AR Rahman in the Tamil movie Kadhal Desam.

KK was loved by people of all generations. The nation was just coping with the murder of the Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala when the saddening news of KK’s demise came in. He will continue to live in our hearts with the beautiful melodies he created and the amazing memories associated with them.

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