Rest In Peace, Rock Guru

ILLUSTRATION: YAFIZ SIDDIQUI

Today marks the 7th Death Anniversary of the pioneer of rock music in Bangladesh, Azam Khan. The legacy that he has left behind cannot be defined by his discography of 20 plus albums, it is much more profound than that. A freedom fighter and an advocate for peace at a time of violence, Azam Khan's name was synonymous to the emerging underground rock music scene after liberation. As another legend, Maqsoodul Haque (Mac) notes in History of Rock – The Legacy of Azam Khan,"By mid 1973, words spread like wildfire in the youthful underground about the emergence of a man who had taken on the entire establishment to do a new kind of music despite personal attacks and social criticism. That man was Azam Khan."

The great man is sometimes wrongly termed 'Pop Samrat' by people to this day. This title is misleading, as 'Pop' stands for popular music that is generally accepted by the society. For Azam Khan, acceptance was a hard-earned victory through years of struggle and blockbuster hits such as Ore Saleka Ore Maleka, Bangladesh, Obhimani and a myriad of others.

When he breathed his last on this day in 2011, the entire music industry had wept, irrespective of the genre that they belonged to. One of the reasons was the well-established fact that without him, a big portion of the industry would not exist as we know it today. Azam Khan was a rock-star, and he rocked harder than anyone could. Azam Khan taught us how to rock. Rest in peace, Guru.