Jagjit Kaur, veteran singer and wife of composer Khayyam, dies at 93

Jagjit Kaur, the veteran singer, and wife of late music composer Khayyam passed away on Sunday following an age-related illness. She was 93.

Kaur sang several songs, including the ones composed by Khayyam like ”Dekh lo Aaj humko” from ”Bazaar”, the 1982 film featuring Supriya Pathak Kapur and Farooq Shaikh; ”Pehle to aankh milana” from 1961’s ”Shola Aur Shabnam”, starring Dharmendra; and ”Tum apna ranj–o-gham apni pareshani mujhe de do” from the 1964 Waheeda Rehman-starrer ”Shagoon”.
According to Pritam Sharma, spokesperson of the Khayyam Jagjit Kaur KPG Charitable Trust, the singer breathed her last around 6 am at her residence in Juhu.

”The last rites will be performed with limited attendance today at Pawan Hans Crematorium, Vile Parle, here,” Sharma said.

Kaur started her career in the early ’50s, singing songs in films like ”Posti” (Punjabi language) and ”Dil-e-Nadan”, starring Talat Mehmood and Shyama. She got married to Khayyam in 1954.

She also sang a song in the Khayyam-composed memorable soundtrack, ”Umrao Jaan” in 1981.

In 2016, Kaur, along with her husband-composer, started the Khayyam Jagjit Kaur KPG Charitable Trust to support budding artists and technicians in India.

Khayyam passed away in 2019 aged 92.