Assamese singer Zubeen Garg best known for the sensational Bollywood track ‘Ya Ali’ has passed away at the age of 52, after a shocking scuba diving accident while he was in Singapore for his musical performance. He was attending the North East India Festival and was scheduled to perform later that day. As North East News reported, he faced breathing difficulties underwater and despite being rushed to the hospital, passed away in the ICU.
Born in 1972 in Meghalaya, Zubeen Garg began his career in the Assamese music industry during the 1990s. His national breakthrough came in 2006 with Ya Ali from the film Gangster which made him a household name. Over the years, he sang more than 40 languages including Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, English, Kannada, Malayalam and more, and became one of Assam’s most celebrated cultural figures.
Fondly remembering his legacy, Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to social media and expressed deep grief calling Zubeen as “one of the state’s favourite sons”. Assam’s Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Irrigation, Ashok Singhal also paid tribute saying the singer was not just a voice but the “heartbeat of Assam”. Fans across India and the Assamese community worldwide are left heartbroken and mourning the loss of an artist whose songs carried both emotion and identity.
শব্দ আজি নিজেই নিজত আবদ্ধ
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 19, 2025
Today Assam lost one of its favourite sons. I am in a loss of words to describe what Zubeen meant for Assam. He has gone too early, this was not an age to go.
Zubeen's voice had an unmatched ability to energise people and his music spoke directly to…
His work extends beyond playback singing, as Zubeen was also a composer, lyricist, actor, filmmaker and poet. And extremely talented artist who has a groundbreaking record of singing around 38,000 songs in more than 40 languages, including, also had hands on playing 12 musical instruments! His versatility made him a rare figure in the history of Indian music and though his life ended too soon, his songs and contributions will continue to live on, inspiring across generations.
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