Tuesday marks the 60th birth anniversary of late rock superstar, guitarist, composer, and founding front man of popular band LRB Ayub Bachchu.
The music fraternity and fans across the world are commemorating the legend with great respect for his enormous contribution to the music of Bangladesh, especially in the band music genre.
Band legends including Maqsoodul Haque, Hamin Ahmed, Labu Rahman, his former bandmates Saidul Hasan Swapan, SI Tutul, Riyadh Sarwar, lyricists Shahid Mahmud Jangi and Latiful Islam Shibli and many other music stars have shared their fond memories and heartfelt wishes on social media, commemorating the rock icon's birth anniversary.
Born on August 16, 1962, in Patiya, Chittagong, Ayub Bachchu started his music career with the band ‘Feelings’ in 1977 after graduating from Government Muslim High School in 1975.
At Feelings, he performed as the lead guitarist alongside his most popular contemporary rock star and another rock legend of the country, James, for the next two years before joining the melodious band ‘Souls’ in 1980.
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Alongside the iconic Bangladeshi singers and musicians such as Tapan Chowdhury, Naquib Khan, Kumar Bishwajit and more, Bachchu continued as the band’s lead guitarist till 1990, before eventually launching ‘LRB’ (Love Runs Blind), a full-fledged rock band in 1991.
With the bold attempt to release their first venture as a double album, the band brought out ‘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 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.
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 first 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 front man 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.
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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.
On October 18, 2018, the rock legend startled the world by passing suddenly from a terrible heart attack.
He is survived by his wife Ferdous Ayub Chandana, daughter Fairuz Saffra Ayub, son Ahnaf Tazwar Ayub, and billions of followers worldwide.