Bappi Lahiri
Veteran singer-music director Bappi Lahiri -- who wielded the baton at the age of 17 -- passed away in Mumbai. The legendary musician who had a sprawling music career of over 50 years is an inspiration to many, both nationally and internationally. The music composer who is credited as a pioneer of synthesised disco music in Indian cinema during 1970s to 1990s caught up in a fued with musician Dr Dre and he sued him for copying his song 'Thoda Resham Lagta Hai' which was later remixed as 'Kaliyon Ka Chaman'.
Bappi's song 'Thoda Resham Lagta Hai' from the 1981 film 'Jyoti' fell into anonymity for over two decades. However, it gained nationwide attention in 2002 when it was sampled by American producer DJ Quik for the Truth Hurts song 'Addictive'. Steve "Static Major" Garrett wrote the song's lyrics, and the record was produced by DJ Quik. Dr Dre was the Executive Producer. Quik had sampled for its instrumental track a Hindi song he heard on TV one morning. The sample turned out to be 'Thoda Resham Lagta Hai' by Lata Mangeshkar, but Aftermath neglected to clear the rights to the song.
This led to a legal dispute that was ultimately resolved in 2003. On September 12, 2002, Saregama filed a $500 million lawsuit against Aftermath and parent company Universal Music Group, and filed a request to stop further performances or broadcasts of the 'Addictive' song. Watch the original song here:
Bappi Da won the copyright case against western musician Dr Dre. Shortly thereafter, the original song was remixed by Indian composer Harry Anand as 'Kaliyon Ka Chaman', which was sung by Assamese singer Shaswati Phukan.
Lahiri died following multiple health issues on Tuesday night at the CritiCare Hospital in Juhu. The 69-year-old had been admitted to the hospital for a month and was discharged on Monday.
The singer is survived by his wife Chitrani, two children -- daughter Reema, who is also a singer, and music composer, son Bappa Lahiri.
The last rites will be held on Thursday upon Bappa Lahiri's return from Los Angeles, US.
