India’s iconic singer Arijit Singh, the voice behind countless much-loved Bollywood numbers, on Tuesday triggered a wave of shock across the music industry by announcing his retirement from playback singing.
However, the 38-year-old singer made it clear tha that he would continue to pursue his career as an independent musician.
Arijit, known for churning out evergreen film tracks like “Tum hi ho” and “Kesariya”, took to Instagram to declare he would not take any more assignments as a playback vocalist.
In his statement, the singer thanked his listeners for giving him “so much of love” all these years before calling time on his 15-year-old film career.
“Hello, Happy New Year to all. I want to thank you for giving me so much of love all these years as listeners. I am happy to announce that I am not gonna be taking any new assignments as a playback vocalist from now on. I am calling it off,” he said,
Arijit, who debuted in Hindi cinema with the number “Phir Mohabbat” in 2011 for the film “Murder 2”, described his playback career as a “wonderful journey”.
“God has been really kind to me,” he said, while promising to complete his pending commitments. “I still have to finish some pending commitments, will finish them. So you might get some releases this year.”
However, the Padma Shri winner clarified that he would continue to pursue his career as an independent singer. “I am a fan of good music and in future will be learning more and do more on my own as a small little artist. Thanks again for all your support. Just to be clear that I won’t stop making music.”
Arijit has two National Film awards and eight Filmfare awards under his belt.
