Monday marks the 59th birth anniversary of late rock maestro Ayub Bachchu, known and admired by music lovers as legendary singer, guitarist, composer, songwriter, musician and founding frontman of popular band LRB.
Born on August 16, 1962, in Patiya, Chittagong to Ishaque Chowdhury and Nurjahan Begum, Bachchu graduated from Government Muslim High School in 1975.
He started his music career with the band ‘Feelings’ in 1977, where he played as the lead guitarist alongside his most popular contemporary rockstar James, another rock legend of the country, for the next two years.
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In 1980, he joined and continued playing for the melodious band ‘Souls’ alongside famous singers and musicians such as Tapan Chowdhury, Naquib Khan, Kumar Bishwajit and more, continued as the band’s lead guitarist till 1990, and finally formed his own, full-fledged rock-themed band ‘LRB’ (Love Runs Blind) in 1991.
LRB started pretty strong with a surprise release of their first venture as a double album ‘LRB-I’ and ‘LRB-II’, featuring many of its popular songs like “Ghum Vanga Shohore”, “Shesh Chithi”, ‘Madhobi” and more. Soon, LRB started to become popular for their tunes and presentations with balanced and guitar-based lyrics.
Although started as a hard rock band, LRB soon became known for their experiment with genres such as blues rock, soft rock, and psychedelic rock; and continued cementing its legacy as one of the pioneering heavy metal rock bands in Bangladesh. With Bachchu, LRB released 14 critically acclaimed albums and "Ferari Mon: Unplugged Live", which was the first live album in Bangladesh.
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The band went on to perform over 1,000 concerts that have included extensive performances in Bangladesh as well as tours in Asia, Europe, Australia and the United States and became the only Bangladeshi band to perform at the prestigious Madison Square Garden in New York City. Altogether, LRB changed the landscape in Bangladeshi band culture under the leadership of Ayub Bachchu.
Aside from being the successful frontman of LRB, Bachchu was also extremely successful in his solo ventures including ‘Rokto Golap’ (1986), ‘Moyna’ (1988) and with his extremely popular album ‘Koshto’ (1995), often considered by many as a king’s comeback after seven years while Bachchu was busy with LRB.
With a total of 16 solo albums, a full-fledged studio-turned production house named ‘AB Kitchen’, numerous super hit playbacks such as ‘‘Ammajaan’’, ‘’Sagorika”, “Ononto Prem”, “Ami to Preme Porini” and many other scores in Bangladeshi commercial movies, Blockbuster hit singles and band scores such as “Koshto Pete Valobashi”, ‘‘Shei Tumi Keno Eto Ochena Hole’’, ‘’Ferari Ei Monta Amar’’, ‘‘Cholo Bodle Jai’’, ‘’Ekhon Onek Raat’’, ‘‘Hashte Dekho Gaite Dekho’’ and more, and inspiring musicians from guitar enthusiasts to popular and established artists in both Bangladesh and West Bengal - Ayub Bachchu created his legacy during his short-lived glorious life.
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The rock maestro shocked the world on October 18, 2018, through his passing away due to a tragic heart attack, leaving behind his beloved wife Ferdous Ayub Chandana, daughter Fairuz Saffra Ayub, son Ahnaf Tazwar Ayub and billions of fans around the world.