MANNA-DEYToday, the world lost its melody as the illustrious classical vocalist Manna Dey passes away at the age of 94 in a local hospital of Bengaluru. Keeping unwell for quite sometime, he was being treated there for respiratory illness and renal failure but around 3:50 this morning, he breathed his last.

Born as Prabodh Chandra Dey in the city of Kolkata on May 1, 1919, Manna Dey got recognized by his nickname over the course of his career. He recorded more than 4000 songs and considered to be one of the greatest playback singers that Indian cinema has ever seen. He sang in not only Hindi and his mother tongue Bengali but also several other languages such as Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujrati, Assamese, and Oriya etc.

He was at the peak of his singing career from the 1950s to the 1970 during which he bestowed his golden voice to masterpieces like Puchho na kaise maine rain bitayee, Ae mere pyare watan, ae mere bichhade chaman, Ek chatur naar karke singar, Laga Chunari me daag, Tu pyaar ka sagar hai, Zindagi Kaise Hai Paheli, Ae Meri Zohra jabeen and many more. He also lent his voice for Madhushala, an iconic compilation of Hindi poems composed by Late Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

Manna Dey started his journey as a playback singer from his debut film Tamanna in 1942 and thereafter his eminent contribution to the music industry made him won various prestigious awards starting from the Padma Shri in 1971 to the Padma Bhushan in 2005 and then the grand Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2007.

Mohammed Rafi once said, ““You listen to my songs. But I listen to Manna Dey’s songs only”. Now, something like this coming from one veteran singer for another legend in the same field sounded truly exceptional. Though, this musical luminary in the soul of Manna Dey left for a better world today, his harmonious voice and remarkable songs will reverb in our hearts for ages.