'Boy from North Bengal who rose to fame': Mamata Banerjee pays tribute to Bappi Lahiri

Following legendary singer Bappi Lahiri's alias Alokesh Lahiri's death, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she was shocked by the demise. Remembering the singer, Banerjee lauded his journey from being born in North Bengal to being conferred with the highest state civilian award. The West Bengal CM expressed her condolences and said that the singer will be remembered for his genius. Lahiri died on Tuesday night at the CritiCare Hospital in Mumbai's Juhu.

Following the legendary singer’s death, Mamata Banerjee took to her Twitter to note that she was shocked by the news. The CM shared the singer’s musical journey and paid her tribute. “Shocked to hear about the untimely demise of legendary singer and music composer Bappi Lahiri. A boy from our North Bengal, he rose to all-India fame and success by the dint of his sheer talent and hard work, and made us proud by his musical contributions,” she said.

“We had conferred on him our highest state civilian award “Bangabibhushan" and will contribute to remembering the genius. My sincere condolences,” Banerjee added in her tweet. The moment the news about Bappi Lahiri's demise surfaced online, the fans expressed their shock at the tragic update. While many of them hoped for his soul to rest in peace, others expressed their grief on losing another legendary singer after Lata Mangeshkar.

Bappi Lahiri passes away

The 69-year-old singer-composer popularised disco music across the country in the 80s and 90s, died following multiple health issues, a doctor treating him said on Wednesday. He is survived by his wife Chitrani and two children Bappa and Rema. The singer-composer, a familiar figure for many with his trademark gold chains that he wore for luck and his sunglasses, was known for his songs in several films of the late 70s-80s. These included "Chalte Chalte", "Disco Dancer", and "Sharaabi". His last Bollywood song was Bhankas for the 2020 film "Baaghi 3”. 

Bappi Lahiri's doctor shares cause of singer-composer's death

In a statement to Republic TV, Dr Deepak Namjoshi of the CritiCare Hospital in Juhu said, "Basically, Bappi da had weak lungs and Obstructive Sleep Apnea since almost a year or so and had been in and out of the CritiCare hospital with increased carbon dioxide levels, stress infections. We all are also aware that last year he suffered from a COVID infection also, so his lungs were not the same as they used to be, and because of the OSA, he was readmitted in January. For almost 18 days in the ICU, he recovered quite well, and all his parameters were normal."

"But yesterday evening, we again got a call from the family that he is having difficulty in breathing, he was rushed in the ambulance to the hospital. He came in a very bad state. We tried to revive him, but ultimately he succumbed to his illness," the doctor added. 

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