Mumbai: On October 25, the anniversary of his Bollywood debut, Google honored famous Indian playback singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, also known as KK, with an animated doodle.
This day in 1996 marked the release of KK’s debut single, “Chhod Aaye Hum,” from Gulzar’s political thriller Maachis. The Google logo serves as the background for the doodle and includes music notes and star emojis. KK is shown standing and singing into a microphone.
Google described the doodle’s meaning in a message on their website, saying, “This doodle celebrates Krishnakumar Kunnath, also known as KK, a successful Indian playback singer most known for his versatility. He is widely remembered for recording songs in several languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Bengali, Assamese, and Gujarati.”
KK was praised for his heartfelt tunes, such as “Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai,” “Ankhon Mein Teri,” and “Khuda Jaane.” He recorded more than 200 songs in regional languages like Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, and Malayalam, along with more than 500 songs in Hindi, over his three-decade career.
In Kolkata, the adored vocalist died on May 31, 2022, a few hours after taking the stage. After his passing, Nakul Krishna, KK’s son, posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram acknowledging the significant influence of his father’s life. He talked about how sad he was and how thankful he was to have been able to see KK’s love of music.
In 1994, KK started his musical career by performing commercial jingles after sending a demo tape to a well-known Indian performer.
Before becoming well-known in Hindi cinema, he recorded about 3,500 jingles in 11 languages. In 1999, he released his debut album, Pal, which was widely praised and cemented his reputation in the music industry.