Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/NEW DEHLI: Ricky Kej became the first Indian musician to win three Grammy awards earlier this month; however, despite global recognition, the musician has yet to find a large fanbase at home.
Kej exudes glamour, dressed sharply and sporting a salt-pepper beard and slick long hair. People who know him say he enjoys going out to parties, and Kej agrees.
The 41-year-old is also a dentist and an environmentalist who has served as an ambassador for UNICEF, UNESCO, and other organisations.
Aside from his confident nature and many talents, he’s a qualified dentist. Kej says he is simply a musician who wants to make a positive impact with his music, according to the BBC.
Kej’s first Grammy award
When Kej won his first Grammy for Winds of Samsara in 2015, he was already the youngest Indian to do so. The previous year, Kej and South African flute player Wouter Kellerman’s album debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard New Age Albums Chart.
Kej won his second Grammy in 2022 for Divine Tides, a collaboration with The Police drummer Stewart Copeland. The album won in the category of Best New
Age Album. A year later, Divine Tides was nominated for Best New Age Album at the Grammys, making
Kej the first Indian to win three Grammys.
Despite being a well-known face in the global music industry, Kej and his music aren’t renowned in his home country.
The musician agrees with this assessment, stating that his music has more Western consumers than Indian listeners, though he believes the balance is slowly shifting over the last few years. He is well-liked by critics who admire his ability to reimagine Indian music.
However, some music fans claimed they had never heard of Kej or his work before his recent award. This, according to Kej, is due to Bollywood’s “vice-like group” in the Indian music industry.
Kej, born in North Carolina to a family of doctors, moved back to the Indian city of Bangalore when he was eight years old and has lived there ever since. Kej believes he has always wanted to be a musician. Still, his parents’ extensive record collection – “containing music from all genres, languages, and cultures” – proved to be an excellent way to channel that desire into something more serious.
With the rise of independent music in India, the musician claims to have found new audiences. He stated that he performed over 40 concerts in India last year in packed venues and stadiums and headlined several music festivals.
