When Zubeen Garg — the voice that defined decades of Assamese and Indian popular music — passed away following a "swimming accident" in Singapore, grief rippled across Assam and beyond. His body reached Guwahati on Sunday, September 21, 2025,  and was taken to his home area before being placed for public tribute at

What normally would have been a short 29-km transfer from the airport to Kahilipara stretched into a seven-hour procession as tens of thousands converged on the route to pay respects.

Social media was flooded with videos capturing the extraordinary scale of the gathering — some claiming as many as one million people welcomed his return.

The Assam government announced that the legendary cultural icon will be cremated with full state honours on September 23, 2025, and a period of official mourning has been declared, underlining his cultural stature in the region.

Zubeen Garg’s musical output was vast and varied: he sang across multiple languages, acted, composed, and produced.

Reports say he recorded around 38,000 songs in 40 languages, and there may be at least 1,000 more recent songs not yet included in official tallies.

If verified, this would place him among the most prolific vocalists in the world, second only to legends like SP Balasubrahmanyam — and possibly even surpassing them once all undocumented songs are counted.

What stands out more than the exact numbers is the scale of feeling: Zubeen Garg's music threaded through everyday life in Assam, and the crowds, official honours, and nonstop tributes show how deeply he was woven into the region’s cultural fabric.

In the coming days, memorials and awards in his name are expected to preserve his legacy.

For now, the picture is clear: a beloved artist has left a vast body of work and a community stunned by loss — and Guwahati has shown the scale of its grief in a way few cities ever have.

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