Singer Shaan has remembered his late friend and Assamese music icon Zubeen Garg with a new musical tribute on the first anniversary of his death, sharing a video featuring the late singer and writing, “Long Live Zubeen.”
Shaan shared the tribute on social media on Saturday, posting visuals of Zubeen along with a message that read: “Long Live #Zubeen Woh Jo sabka apna hai .. Hamesha rahega .. Banke Apna !!”
The new song features Shaan, with singer Mahalaxmi Iyer providing the female vocals.
The tribute comes exactly a year after Zubeen Garg died in Singapore on September 19, 2025, at the age of 52. Garg had travelled to Singapore in connection with the North East India Festival and was scheduled to perform there on September 20.
He became unresponsive while swimming during an outing from a yacht in waters off Lazarus Island. While initial reports described the incident as a scuba-diving accident, a subsequent Singapore investigation established that Garg had been swimming from a yacht, had removed his life jacket and later entered the water again without one.
He was rescued after becoming unresponsive while swimming back towards the yacht and taken to Singapore General Hospital, where he died.
Shaan and Zubeen were close friends and had also collaborated on music, including the Assamese song “Mon Ghanot”, alongside other singers.
Born on November 18, 1972, in Tura, Meghalaya, Zubeen began his professional music career with his Assamese album Anamika in 1992. Over a career spanning more than three decades, he worked as a singer, composer, songwriter, music director, actor and filmmaker, recording in several Indian languages.
While he was already a major musical figure in Assam and the Northeast, Zubeen gained wider recognition across India with “Ya Ali” from the 2006 Hindi film Gangster: A Love Story. The song became one of his most recognised Hindi film recordings.
He also lent his voice to songs including “Dilruba” from Namastey London and “Jag Lal Lal Lal” from Big Brother.
Through his latest song, Shaan has paid tribute to a friend and fellow musician whose work continues to be remembered by audiences across the country.