Rabbi Shergill (born Gurpreet Singh Shergill on 16 April 1973) is an Indian

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

well known for his debut album ''Rabbi'' and the chart-topper song of 2004, '' Bullah Ki Jaana '' ("I don’t know who I am!"). His music has been described variously as rock, Punjabi, with a bani style melody, andMeet Rabbi Shergill, Indipop's latest star!
by Sumit Bhattacharya, ''Rediff.com Specials''

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

-style (''sufiana''), and "semi-Sufi semi-folksy kind of music with a lot of Western arrangements."Rhythm Divine
by Swagata Sen, ''The Telegraph'', 21 November 2004. Shergill has been called " Punjabi music's true urban balladeer".

Career

After college Shergill formed a band named Kaffir. The band played in some competitions and college festivals before parting ways. Shergill initially composed

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meanings that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s for advertisement agencies such as Yamaha RX-T motorbikes and Times FM. He had an unsuccessful stint with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

and Tehelka before finally releasing his debut album ''Rabbi'' in 2004 under Phat Phish Records. Relying on word-of-mouth publicity and a music video, he had a chart topper song " Bullah Ki Jaana". Most of the songs in the album were composed and written by Shergill himself except for "Bullah Ki Jaana" based on the Kafi poem written by the Punjabi Sufi saint

Bulleh Shah Sayyid Abdullāh Shāh Qādrī (; ), popularly known as Baba Bulleh Shah and vocatively as Bulleya, was a Punjabi revolutionary philosopher, reformer and Chishti Sufi poet, regarded the 'Father of Punjabi Enlightenment'; and one of the g ...

. "Heer" from "Heer" by

Waris Shah Pir Waris Shah ( ; 1722 1798) was an 18th-century Punjabi Muslims, Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet of the Chishti order, known popularly for his contribution to Punjabi literature. He is primarily known as the author of the ''Heer Ranjha'' love ...

and "Ishtihar" by Shiv Kumar Batalvi. Shergill had one song, "Dilli" which was used in the

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

movie, '' Delhii Heights''. In October 2008, Shergill released his second album '' Avengi Ja Nahin'' under Yashraj Music. The album contains nine songs and deals with issues like communal violence, likis the Bilkis Bano case expressing social responsibility and the need for "collective morality". He also appeared in MTV Unplugged (India) in 2011. He lent his voice to Yash Chopra's 2012 romantic film '' Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' singing the leading number "Challa" composed by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

and the lyrics penned by

Gulzar Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian Urdu poetry, Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He starte ...

. In March 2012, he released his third album ''III''.

Musical style

Shergill's principal contribution to music lies in the use of Punjabi — which previously had a reputation similar to that of either Bhangra or traditional folk — to create acoustic rock-based ballads, providing a new musical perspective to this language. And with his poetic, socially relevant lyrics and an adult alternative sound, Shergill instantly connected with an urban crowd who loved him for his genuine and original approach to his songs. His songs are deeply philosophical and blend archaic, almost lost, Punjabi phrases into more recent Indian rock music. Shergill's music has been inspired by Rock as well as Sufi and Punjabi folk music. His favourite musicians include

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

and

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

. He has also worked with award-winning mix engineer Gustavo Celis, who helped him out with some tracks for his album ''III''. "Working with Celis — who has worked with artists including Beyonce,

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

and

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

— was an amazing experience," he says.

Personal life

Shergill's father was a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

preacher and his mother is a college principal and also a Punjabi poet. He has four sisters. He is an alumnus of Guru Harkrishan Public School, India Gate and

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. After college, he went for further studies at the Fore School of Management but dropped out a year later. His sister Gagan Gill is a well known Hindi poet.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Rabbi'' (2004) * ''Avengi Ja Nahin'' (2008) * ''Rabbi III'' (2012)

Singles

* ''Tu Milen'' (2013) * ''Taläsh'' (2019) * ''Raj Singh'' (2019) * ''Sahi Aeh Vi'' (2019) * ''Pahilan'' (2020) * ''Pahiläñ'' (2020) * ''Par Parosani'' (2022) * ''Hamahüñ Kä Khïläb'' (2022) * ''Tu Hae Khubsurat'' (2023) * ''Bulla at biella jazz club'' (2024)

Film soundtracks

* '' Waisa Bhi Hota Hai 2'', "Laundiya Ke Pallu Mein" (2003) *'' Delhii Heights'', "Tere Bin", "Kitni Der" (2007) *'' Dharti'', "Bandiya Tu" (2011) * '' Jab Tak Hai Jaan'', "Challa" (2012) * '' Raanjhanaa'', "Tu Mon Shudi" (2013) * ''Chaar Sahibzaade - Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur'' (2016) * '' Romeo Akbar Walter'', "Bulleya" (2019) * '' Happy Hardy and Heer'', "Aadat" (2020)

References

External links

Rabbi Shergil's Official Youtube AccountOdd One Out Records
Punjabi music Punjabi poetry Performers of Sufi music People of Punjabi descent 1973 births Living people Indian Sikhs Bollywood playback singers
Rabbi Shergill's official website
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