Taz (Singer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Taz

• Taz was a British singer, music composer, and actor of Indian descent, who came into the limelight with his pop songs in the 90s. On 29 April 2022, he passed away of prolonged illness.

• In 1996, he started working as a lead singer in the pop band Stereo Nation. He was one of the singers to introduce cross-cultural Asian fusion music in India.

  

• Some of his popular music albums are ‘The Remix Album’ (1990), ‘Spirits of Rhythm’ (1994), ‘Nasha’ (1999), ‘Rewind Selekta’ (2009), and ‘Desi & U know It’ (2012).

  

• His song “Pyar Ho Gaya” from the music album ‘OH! Laila’ (2000) was among the chartbusters songs.

• In 2007, he acted in the English language film ‘Sambar Salsa’ (2007).

• He gained immense popularity with his songs in Hindi films like “It’s Magic” from ‘Koi… Mil Gaya’ (2003), “Mujhpe To Jadoo” from ‘Race’ (2008), “Daru Vich Pyaar” from ‘Guest Iin London’ (2017), and “Gallan Goriyan” from ‘Batla House’ (2019).

• In an interview, he talked about his training in music. He said,
  

  I am a bathroom singer and have not had any kind of training as such. I play keyboards enough to be able to compose and I am purely soul-driven when it comes to performing on stage.”

• He used to perform live at various stage shows and events.

  

• He was a dog lover and had a pet dog named Kovu.

  

• He was often spotted drinking alcohol at parties and events.

  

• Once, Taz performed at the Royal Albert Hall to raise the funds for the Charity of Afghanistan.

• He also performed live at the annual gala for the Richest British Asian Awards which took place at the Natural History Museum London in the presence of Prince Charles.

• During an interview, he shared how he developed an interest in music. He said,
  

  My father was very firm about English music not being played at home; even English-speaking was banned. I grew up listening to Shoukat Ali Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Gurdas Maan and Kuldeep Manak. Gurdas Maan ji, in fact, is the God of Punjabi music. But my calling was Asian-fusion where I fused both English and Punjabi. I have always promoted Punjabi and will do that in future too. When I entered the music industry and created fusion genre, my father did not talk to me for four years!”

  He further shared how the British pop star Neville Staples spotted him. He said,

  I was spotted by a famous British pop star by the name of Neville Staples of the Two Tone Band ‘The Specials’ & ‘Fun Boy Three’ whilst working in my fathers shop. I used to have a habit and tendency of singing to the radio and practicing my vocal techniques. Neville just happened to be listening to me from outside the shop and I guess I still count my lucky stars today. He liked what he heard and invited me to the recording studio to record some demos. Before I knew it we were recording my first album and the rest is history.”

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his hernia surgery was postponed for two years. His condition worsened in 2021, and he went into a coma. Later, he recovered from it, but in March 2022, his health started deteriorating again, and on 29 April 2022, he died of his prolonged illness.