Indian musician and composer Jagjit Singh, who won generations of fans by reviving the traditional genre of “ghazal” tunes, died Monday in Mumbai at the age of 70, hospital officials said. Singh, dubbed “The Ghazal King”, had been in intensive care for three weeks after undergoing surgery when he fell seriously ill with a brain hemorrhage. Ghazals are a poetic form of singing that originated in the Middle East and spread to India from the 12th century. They were traditionally reserved for the elite, but Singh popularized the form in the 1970s and 1980s by pioneering a modern ghazal sound and using Western instruments alongside Indian classical ones. “Unfortunately, he expired this morning,” said Mohan Rajan, spokesman for the private Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. Singh was admitted to Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital on Sept. 23. A hospital spokesman said Singh suffered another hemorrhage Monday morning and died. India's minister for information and broadcasting Ambika Soni, in her condolence message said, his death Monday had left a a void that would be difficult to fill. As well as spreading the appeal of ghazal in India, Singh sang and composed for Bollywood, the Hindi-language film industry.
