Bappi Lahiri, a celebrated Bollywood singer, composer and politician, died Wednesday in Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. He was 69.
Lahiri had been ailing from various health issues, including sleep apnea.
Lahiri’s music popularized disco in the 1980s and ’90s, long after it had left the West, with his music used in films such as “Namak Halal,” “Disco Dancer” and “Commando.”
Dressed in his trademark golden chains and glasses, Lahiri was an instantly recognizable figure around Mumbai. Born Alokesh Lahiri to a family of classical music singers in West Bengal, he relocated to Mumbai after composing music for Bengali films. His maternal uncle, Kishore Kumar, was a famous Bollywood singer and Lahiri arrived in Bombay, as it was known then in the 1970’s, with some existing Hindi film connections. After composing music for 1973’s “Nanha Shikari,” Lahiri broke…
