Ayub Bachchu—also known as AB to his fans, one of the most talented musicians the country has ever produced, is no more. The legendary guitarist-songwriter-composer-singer passed away following a heart attack in Dhaka early yesterday (Thursday). Back in 1983, Ayub Bacchu travelled to Dhaka from Chattogram to try his luck in a city full of mystery completely unfamiliar to him. When he arrived in Dhaka, he had only Tk. 600 in his pocket, but plenty of dreams. He had the dream of becoming a musician, touching the hearts of audiences with his creations and making Bangladesh proud.
Although he had many relatives in Dhaka at that time, young AB did not seek shelter from anyone. Rather, he started his own fight and faced the harsh reality of life. He had to fight a long battle to reach the position of a legendary musician whom people loved blindly.
Born on August 16, 1962, AB started his music career from his birthplace Chattogram with the band Feelings in 1978. He joined the band Souls in 1980, one of the pioneers in the band movement of Bangladesh.
In 1991, AB left Souls after 10 long years of practice for perfection and formed LRB (Love Runs Blind). With the eagerness to create something revolutionary, LRB released their first debut album in 1992, which was a double album and an entirely new concept in Bangladeshi music.
The album contained hard rock songs like ‘Ghum Bhanga Shohore’, ‘Madhobi’ and ‘Hoker’, ‘Sesh Cithi Keno Amon Cithi Hoy’, ‘Happy’ and ‘Dhakar Sondha’.
In 1993, LRB released their album ‘Sukh’ featuring hard rock, blues, rock songs such as ‘Sukh’, ‘Gotokal Raate’, ‘Khoniker Jonno’, ‘Cholo Bodle Jai’ (commonly known as ‘Sei Tumi’), ‘Haste Dekho Gaite Dekho’, ‘Rupali Guitar’ etc. ‘Cholo Bodle Jai’—all written and tuned by Bachchu. The album became one of the greatest hits in Bangladesh.
LRB started to play live gigs the following years and their history of reaching a cult status began. Millions of music loving people accepted their music with love.
LRB performed thousands of gigs at home (500+ open air & 2000+ indoor) and abroad. LRB had a great gig with Richard At Legang (France); with Remo Fernandez, Nondon Bagchi and Bikram Gosh of India; and with Azam Khan, Miles and Black of Bangladesh.
AB’s solo albums include “‘Rakto Golap’ (1986), ‘Moyna’ (1989), ‘Kosto’ (1995), ‘Shomoy’ (1998), ‘Eka’ (1999), ‘Prem Tumi Ki?’ (2000), ‘Duti Mon’ (2002), ‘Kafela’ (2002), ‘Prem Premer Moto’ (2003), ‘Pother Gaan’ (2004), ‘Vaatir Gaane Maatir Taane’ (2006), ‘Jibon’ (2006), ‘Sound of Silence’ (instrumental) (2007), ‘Rimjhim Brishti’ (2008), ‘Bolini Kokhono’ (2009) and ‘Jiboner Golpo’ (2015).
Ayub Bacchu also acted in two tele-dramas on the occasion of Eid in 2010. l