3-time Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej composes anthem inspired by Bengaluru airport

PTI, Jul 20, 2024, 11:22 AM IST

Credit: X/@BLRAirport

When two-time Grammy Award winner Lonnie Park got to know that fellow Grammy Award winner Ricky Kej was composing an anthem for Bengaluru airport, he volunteered to sing it for free, said Kej at the launch of the ‘Airport Anthem’ at the Terminal 1 of the Kempegowda International Airport on July 19.

“He came to Bengaluru to perform with me in December last year and he really liked Terminal 2. He described it as (James Cameron’s film) ‘Avatar’-like airport. When he learnt that I was composing the anthem, he wanted to sing it, just like that, without taking any money for it,” Kej told PTI on the sidelines of the event organised to launch the anthem.

The Kannada version of the bilingual song was sung by Siddhartha Belmannu.

At the launch event Kej talked about how being a frequent flyer, airports play an important role in his life.

“Kempegowda airport is particularly like a second home to me, as I am based out of Bengaluru. So, I thought why not make a song about the airport. The song is inspired by the beauty of the airport and all the memories I have built in this airport,” said Kej.

He recalled one such memory, which he described as the most unforgettable incident of his life.

“It happened as soon as I landed here in Bengaluru after winning the Grammy. I got a call from an unknown number and the caller introduced herself as Lata and congratulated me. I was taken aback and was asking the person how she got my number. It turned out, the caller was in fact Lata Mangeshkar. Now, I cannot but associate that moment with this airport,” added Kej.

‘Airport Anthem’ is now available for streaming and download at Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Wynk and other platforms. The accompanying music video weaves together three stories of passengers embarking on their journeys from Kempegowda Airport.

The third largest airport in the country achieved a significant milestone in December 2023 by crossing the 300 million passenger mark since the launch of its operations.

Incidentally, on July 19, due to a global Microsoft outage, which led to the Navitaire Departure Control System stalling, the airport was crowded with passengers who had to wait for their delayed or cancelled flights.

Despite the airlines initiating manual check-ins, the crowd swelled as the day wore on. The launch of the song provided some entertainment to those waiting at the departure area.