1972
A house full of music
Zubeen Garg was born on 18 November 1972. His mother was a singer and his father wrote verse and lyrics, so music was part of the home long before it became his life. He began to sing at the age of three.
He sang in more than forty languages, yet only ever had one home. Assam heard itself in his voice, and so did everyone who stopped to listen.
Zubeen Da
Zubeen Garg was a singer, composer, lyricist, actor and film-maker from Assam. He began to sing at the age of three, guided first by his mother, and by many accounts went on to record tens of thousands of songs across more than three decades.
He carried the sound of Assam far beyond its borders, and to millions he was simply Zubeen Da, an elder brother to a whole people. This page is a small, quiet way of saying thank you.
- Born
- 18 November 1972
- First album
- Anamika, 1992
- Sang in
- More than 40 languages and dialects
- Remembered on
- 19 September 2025, Singapore
A life in song.
Early years
The first teachers
His mother was his first teacher. He went on to study the tabla for eleven years under Pandit Robin Banerjee, and over the years he played the guitar, dotara and harmonica among many other instruments.
1992
Anamika
His first Assamese album, Anamika, arrived when he was nineteen. It brought a fresh energy to Assamese music and introduced a voice that the state would never stop listening to.
1995
Mumbai
He moved to Mumbai and began recording in Hindi, while carrying on with his Assamese and Bengali music. His songs started to travel well beyond Assam.
2006
Ya Ali
Ya Ali, from the film Gangster, carried his voice across the country and earned him a Global Indian Film Award. Audiences everywhere learned the name that Assam already knew.
2009
A National Film Award
At the 55th National Film Awards, in 2009, he received the National Film Award for music direction in a non-feature film, Echoes of Silence.
2017 and 2019
Behind the camera
He worked as a film-maker as well as an actor, directing and acting in films such as Mission China in 2017 and Kanchanjangha in 2019.
2021
A home opened to others
In May 2021, at the height of the pandemic, he opened his home in Guwahati as a Covid care centre. It is one of the moments people point to when they speak of his generosity.
2025
Farewell
On 19 September 2025 Zubeen Garg left us in Singapore, aged 52. Assam, and many people far beyond it, stopped to mourn together. His final film, Roi Roi Binale, reached audiences on 31 October 2025, after he had gone.
One voice, more than forty tongues.
Languages and dialects he sang in include Assamese, Hindi, Bengali, Boro, Karbi, Mising, Rabha, Garo, Dimasa, Tiwa, Adi, Goalpariya, Sadri, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Nepali, Bhojpuri, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Sindhi, Urdu, Sanskrit, English.
From Bihu nights to Bollywood soundtracks, from folk songs to film scores, he sang the way people speak to those they love, and in whatever language they spoke. These are a few of the songs that stayed with people.
To listen, please use the official platforms so that his family and the music's rights holders are supported.
- AnamikaAlbum, 1992
- Junaki MonAlbum, 1993
- MayabiniAssamese
- Ya AliGangster, 2006
- Dil Tu Hi BataaKrrish 3, 2013
- PanchanaKanchanjangha, 2019
Moments on stage.
Photographs from concerts and festivals, shared openly by the people who stood in the crowd and pointed their cameras at him. Each one is credited beneath the picture.
Drawn by hand, given with love.
In the weeks after he left, artists across Assam picked up brushes and pens. Here are a few of the portraits they gave back.
Zubeen Kshetra
At Kamarkuchi in Sonapur, on the edge of Guwahati, a quiet memorial now stands where his last rites were performed on 23 September 2025. It is called Zubeen Kshetra.
People come from across Assam and beyond to stand for a while, to sing his songs, to sketch his portrait and to leave gamosas as offerings. Around his first remembrance day the place fills again.
Kamarkuchi, Sonapur, near Guwahati. Please visit with quiet respect.
In the days after 19 September 2025, people across Assam gathered to sing, to light lamps and to stand together. The pictures below show only a little of it.
Light a lamp for Zubeen Da.
Wherever you are, take a moment. Tap the lamp and let it burn for the songs he gave us.