Sonam Sherpa, founding member and the lead guitarist of the Indian rock band Parikrama, passed away at the age of 48 on Friday. Although no cause of death was specified in the official tweet, an online portal quoted a bandmate saying that Sherpa had suffered a cardiac arrest.
Among the first to offer condolences was actor-singer Farhan Akhtar, who has performed with the guitarist. He took to Instagram to pay tribute, along with a picture of himself with Sherpa. “In 2008, post Rock On!!, I was part of a four city tour with the amazing Parikrama and I can never forget or adequately say how thankful I am for the love and warmth that he extended to this first timer on stage. He was a gifted guitarist, a supremely cool and a true rock star. RIP brother. Deepest condolences to his family,” wrote Farhan.
He was born in the West Bengal hill town of Kalimpong on October 8, 1971. Along with Subir Malik, he formed Parikrama in Delhi on June 17, 1991. The band’s memorable songs include But it rained, Till I’m no one again, Open skies, Whiskey blues, Am I dreaming and Superhero.
The band’s 1996 single, But it rained, made it to the list of “25 Greatest Indian Rock Songs Of The Last 25 Years” of Rolling Stone India.
Nitin Malik, vocals, Parikrama says, “We (Subir Malik, Sherpa and I, started the journey together in 1991. Sonam meant so much to all of us. To him, the most important thing was to have fun but at the same time, I’ve never seen a more disciplined musicians. He would practise a difficult piece through the night and could show up for a session at four in the morning. He was certainly the best musician among us all. He was like family. In a band, you end up travelling more with the members than you would ever do with your own family. Every outstation concert was like a vacation for us as we had so much fun together. We were almost like, to use a cliche, a band of brothers. We were the first ones to be there in case of an emergency. Even right now Subir is with the family in Kalimpong.”