Renowned ghazal singer Jagjit Singh on Monday passed away at the Leelavati Hospital here, over a fortnight after he suffered brain haemorrhage.

A Padma Bhushan recipient, 70-year-old Singh was admitted to the hospital on September 23 and was in ICU since then.

His condition had deteriorated in the last few days and he was on life support.

“Jagjit Singh passed away at 8.10 AM after having a terrible haemorrhage,” said Dr Sudhir Nandgaonkar, hospital spokesperson. Singh is survived by wife Chitra Singh.

He was born on 8th February 1941 in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan.

Jagjit and his wife ghazal singer Chitra Singh have together been regarded as the pioneers of modern ghazal singing.

He has sung in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Sindhi and Nepali languages and was awarded India’s third highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, in 2003.

With a career spanning over five decades and a repertoire comprising 80 albums, his work has been regarded as genre-defining.

PM condoles Jagjit Singh’s death

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoled the demise of noted ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, saying he would be remembered for his “golden voice”.

Noting that he is among Jagjit’s admirers, the Prime Minister said he shared the sorrow of his fans.

In his condolence message, Dr Singh said by “making ghazals accessible to everyone, he gave joy and pleasure to millions of music lovers in India and abroad….he was blessed with a golden voice”.

The Prime Minister said the ghazal maestro’s music legacy will continue to “enchant and entertain” the people. Jagjit Singh (70) passed away this morning at Lilavati hospital in Mumbai.