Ricky Kej

Ricky Kej was born on 5 August 1981 in North Carolina. A half Punjabi and Marwari by birth,[24] Ricky moved to Bangalore, India when he was eight years old and has lived there since.[10] He completed his schooling at the Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore and subsequently, his Dentistry from the Oxford Dental College in Bangalore. He did not pursue a career in the field and opted for a career in music instead.[25]

While attending university he joined a progressive rock band which he says gave him a good foundation and exposure to music[24] In an early interview, Kej's mother, Pammi Kej, has opined that Ricky's artistic genes were inherited from his grandfather Janaki Das, an actor, Olympic cyclist, and freedom fighter.[26] He does not look upon his degree in dentistry as an alternate career option, and notes that there are ups and downs in every occupation and there is no real need for a backup career.[25] Ricky has revealed that his decision to follow a career in music was not an easy one for his parents to accept.[10]

Ricky started off his career as the keyboardist of Bengaluru-based progressive rock band Angel Dust.[27] Two years into the band, Ricky moved on to become a full-time composer and set up his own studio, Raveolution, in 2003. He eventually went on to create music for over 3,000 ad jingles and Kannada films. Though Ricky's work is an amalgamation of multiple genres, he has maintained that the essence of his work retains the aesthetic of his Indian roots, largely based on Hindustani Classical and a bit of Carnatic also. He has cited Pakistani qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and British vocalist Peter Gabriel as an inspiration to constantly challenge and push his own musical boundaries. Ricky is a self-taught musician but has studied classical music at around the age of 24, to overcome what he observed as a handicap at the time.[28]

Ricky has released 17 studio albums, most of which were physically released in the US but not in his home country of India. Ricky has noted that this was on account of the poor music-buying culture in India and the dominant presence of the Hindi film music industry in the country.[27] Ricky's 13th Studio Album, Shanti Orchestra was released on 9 July 2013.[29] The album peaked at No. 3 in November 2013 on the ZMR Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart,[30] and was ranked No. 37 on the ZMR Top 100 Airplay Chart for 2013.[31] The album was nominated for a 2013 ZMR Music Award [32] and the track "Forever" from the album was also nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media (HMMA) Award in the same year.[33]

Ricky Kej performing live at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York

Ricky produced a benefit album 2 Unite All with Peter Gabriel[34][35] aimed at urgent humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. The album also features Stewart Copeland, the drummer from the English rock band The Police, drummer Rick Allen of English rock band Def Leppard, American rock band System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, and Grammy Award-winning opera singer Sasha Cooke.[27][36]

On 30 November 2015, his album Shanti Samsara – World Music for Environmental Consciousness was launched at COP 21, the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.[12] The Prime Minister personally presented French President François Hollande with a copy of the CD. A video featuring music from the album was also played for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the gathering of world leaders.[37] The album was one of several projects discussed during a meeting Prime Minister Modi had with Ricky following his Grammy win.[38] Ricky found inspiration in Modi's concern for the environment and set out to specifically develop a project to express a message of environmental consciousness. When completed, more than 300 actors, artists and musicians from around the world had contributed to the making of the album's 24 tracks and four music videos, including Indian master musicians Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, famed Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.[39] Grammy winners American singer-songwriter Gary Nicholson, Stewart Copeland, Patti Austin, Philip Lawrence (from Bruno Mars), regular collaborator Wouter Kellerman, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Christopher Tin, Darlene Koldenhoven, Peter Yarrow, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Soweto Gospel Choir, the Monks of Sherab Ling, Wouter Kellerman and Canadian vocalist Jennifer Gasoi in addition to the "Singing Nun of Nepal" Ani Choying Drolma, Chinese zither virtuoso Mei Han, Taiwanese erhu player Lan Tung, Azeri singer Ilhama Gasimova, artists and soloists from Vietnam, Korea and Senegal, as well as the voice talents of Frances Fisher, Rosanna Arquette, Lindsay Wagner and a special message spoken by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.[37] On 23 December 2015, Ricky Kej was invited to perform a song from Shanti Samsara in a special arrangement featuring flutist, Wouter Kellerman and over a hundred students from the Bishop Cotton Boys' School in a special performance for India's President Pranab Mukherjee. Also in attendance were many state and national officials and an audience of nearly 13,000 people.[40] In 2016 "Samsara" from Shanti Samsara received the December 2015 Global Music Awards Gold Medal for World Music – India,[41] and the International Acoustic Music Awards for Best Open/Acoustic Open Genre[42] and on 1 March 2016, was named as a finalist in the 2015 in the World Music category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

Ricky has expressed an interest in working with Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer in the future.[43][44] He has noted Pharrell as being a very versatile artist which would make it very interesting to work with him, and also being able to infuse Indian elements into Hans Zimmer's movie compositions. He has also acknowledged a lack of interest in working with Indian film music scoring in the future, though he is open to the use of his existing music catalog in Bollywood movies,[43] and also composing for a Bollywood movie only if the script moves him emotionally.[36] He has also expressed a strong interest in working with Kannada filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli if the opportunity arises.[28][45] Ricky also cites the dominance of Bollywood and Film music for the lack of Grammy winners in the country.[28]

Ricky Kej with Secretary John Kerry during a fundraising event in Washington DC

In 2018, Ricky released My Earth Songs – Music for Children on the Environment and Sustainability. These are a set of 27 songs each based on a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal aimed to create awareness and inspire the younger generation to make a tangible positive impact in their lives and lives of people around them. Notably, Ricky has released these songs in the public domain for completely non-commercial purposes.[46] Ricky has teamed up with Macmillan Publishers to feature these songs in English language school textbooks from 2019. Ricky has also partnered with UNICEF to spread these songs to children across the world and is working on translating them to several different Indian and global languages.[46] My Earth Songs was honoured at the UN SDG Action Awards in Bonn, Germany on 2 May 2019 for its oureach and impact.[47] The UN SDG Action Awards recognize outstanding achievements and innovative efforts to promote action on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ricky has been an advocate for stronger anti-piracy laws in India.[36] He has stated that there is very little done towards the protection of intellectual property right and with the rampant illegal download of music and films, there is a strong need to better project artists.[28]

Winds of Samsara,[48] his 14th studio album and a collaboration with South African flautist Wouter Kellerman was released on 15 July 2014 after being in production for 2 years.[27] Ricky and Wouter Kellerman had built a bond over Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Kej has noted that given Mandela's admiration for Gandhi and Gandhi's years in South Africa, the duo believed it would make for an interesting cross cultural collaboration. The two pieces initially recorded evolved into several recordings and eventually the full album. The album featured about 50 instruments and 120 instrumentalists. The 'Samsara' in the album name has many meanings – the world around us, the world within us, family, ideals, etc. And Winds was specifically because of the album being a flute-based one.[49] The album made a debut at No. 1 on the US Billboard New Age Albums Chart in August 2014,[8][9] a first for a person of Indian origin[10] and stayed in the top 10 for 12 weeks straight. The album also peaked at No. 1 on the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart in the month of July 2014,[11] and was ranked No. 3 on the ZMR Top 100 Airplay Chart for 2014.[50] On 5 December 2014 Ricky and Kellerman were announced as nominees for a Grammy award in Best New Age Album category.[7] One of the strongest contenders for the award was Grammy-winning Japanese artist Kitaro's Symphony Live in Istanbul but the duo went on to eventually win the award on 8 February 2015.[51] Kej dedicated the award to non-film music composers in India.[43]

Ricky was a featured artist during the week-long celebrations as part of the 11th ZMR Annual Music Awards and Gala Celebration in New Orleans, LA, and performed as part of the ZMR Music Award Concert.[52]

Following the launch of Shanti Samsara at the COP21, the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, Kej was invited to give an exclusive performance for the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, on 23 December 2015 in Bangalore, India as part of the sesquicentennial celebrations of the historic Bishop Cotton Boys' School in Bangalore, India.[53]

On 8 July 2016, on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to South Africa, Kej traveled to Johannesburg, SA, where he joined Wouter Kellerman to perform "Mahatma" from their Grammy Award-winning album Winds of Samsara for Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and other South African state leaders and dignitaries as part of a welcome concert for the Prime Minister's four-nation tour of Africa.[54][55]

Ricky performed at the United Nations General Assembly on 17 July 2016.[18] Accompanying him were vocalist, performance artist, composer and humanitarian activist, Sussan Deyhim, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Premik Russell Tubbs and keyboardist, Lonnie Park.[17]

On 23 July 2016 Kej presented the gala Shanti Samsara LIVE at the Bangalore Palace. Participating in the concert were many of the original artists including Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.

Ricky Kej performed at the United Nations General Assembly for a second time on a personal invitation by Peter Thomson, the then president of the UN General Assembly on 17 May 2017. Ricky performed music from his album Shanti Samsara.[56]

Ricky Kej along with his Shanti Samsara ensemble, performed in Langley, Canada, in aid of United Nations Women, for the elimination of 'Child Brides'.[57]

On 6 October 2017, Ricky Kej headlined a performance at the historic Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru with his ensemble of over 200 musicians from 8 countries. In attendance were legislators, ministers, Bureaucrats and Change makers. Also present was the President of the Island nation of Kiribati, Anote Tong.[58]

Ricky performs to a sold out crowd at Jawaharlal Indoor stadium in Chennai

Ricky Kej delivered the finale performance at the RoundGlass Music Awards 2018, at Times Square, New York with his ensemble of musicians from across the globe. The event saw Ringo Starr, BT and Ronny Cox being honoured.[59] In June, Ricky performed two concerts in New Delhi as a part of the Global Environment Day celebrations. The first concert was to a private audience of The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, Environment Ministers of India, The current Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, Eric Solheim along with other high ranking dignitaries from around the world. The Second concert was performed to thousands of people in front of the historic India Gate.[60]

After being honoured by the House of Commons of Canada in May 2018, Ricky followed by performing 2 concerts at the Simon Fraser University, Surrey and at the Surrey Fusion Festival.[61] In August 2018, Ricky collaborated with the International Justice Mission by performing a concert to thousands of people in Bengaluru to highlight the brutal practice of captive bonded labour on the occasion of the Indian Independence Day celebrations. He also musically collaborated with several survivors during this concert.[62] In October 2018, Kej performed for the President of India – Shri Ram Nath Kovind, The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh – Yogi Adityanath, The incumbent minister at Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Ministry of Earth Sciences of India – Dr Harsh Vardhan and several other dignitaries of the Indian Government as a part of the Indian International Science Festival.

Ricky also performed at the Spiritual Headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris to over 10,000 Brahmakumaris in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.[63] Following this, he headed to Chennai to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chinmaya Vidyalaya educational institutions with a large scale performance at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor stadium.[64] The following week, Ricky performed for the Queen of Mysore and over 20000 people at the historic Mysore Palace as a part of their annual Dussehra celebrations.[65]

On 31 October, Ricky Kej was invited by the World Health Organization to perform at the historic Palais Des Nations headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland for the first Global Air Pollution Conference. This performance featured several new compositions highlighting the dangers of air pollution and the audience consisted of World Leaders, Head of various United Nations agencies and several other dignitaries from around the world.[66]

Ricky Kej being conferred the "UNCCD Land Ambassador" title from Environment Minister of India - Prakash Javadekar

Ricky Kej performed a benefit concert again at ProtoVillage in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh on 22 December 2018 as a part of their annual Samsara Festival. This concert was attended by thousands of villagers. Ricky performed a few days later at the annual Visakha Utsav in Andhra Pradesh on 28 December to over 88000 people. This massive concert and festival was inaugurated by the Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri. N Chandrababu Naidu.

On 10 February 2019, Ricky performed at the Talkatora Stadium for the Brahma Kumaris as a part of their "Global Summit on Science, Spirituality, Education, Environment and the role of human beings in creating a better world". Over 6000 people were in attendance. Ricky was invited to perform at the Headquarters of the World Health Organization on 14 February in Geneva, Switzerland as a part of the launch of their "Make Listening Safe" initiative.[67] In March 2019, Ricky performed a large scale concert for the launch of India’s first blue-chip natural history film - Wild Karnataka for which he also composed the original background score with the film being narrated by Sir David Attenborough. The concert was attended by 3000 dignitaries from all over Karnataka and members of the general public. Wild Karnataka was released in theatres in India in January 2020 which was a first for a Wildlife documentary and ran to packed houses for over 2 months.

Ricky Kej performing live at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva

On the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrating 20 years of India’s victory over Pakistan in the Kargil War, Ricky Kej performed a concert in Leh to over 10,000 members of the Indian Army in July 2019. Several prominent dignitaries and high ranking officers were in attendance.[68] As a part of UNESCO-MGIEP’s World Youth Conference on Kindness, Ricky performed a sold out concert at the Indian Institute of Delhi in August 2019.[69] September 2019 saw Ricky perform at the high level COP14 summit in New Delhi to an audience of world leaders, high level dignitaries and several prominent members of the Indian Government. He was honoured with the title of UNCCD Land Ambassador by Ibrahim Thiaw, The Executive Secretary of the UNCCD.[70] Ricky also performed multiple concerts in New York notably at Central Park for the World Health Organisation’s Walk the Talk: The Health for All Challenge Campaign.[71]

In October 2019, Ricky performed at the launch of the United Nations Global Campaign on Sustainable Nitrogen Management in Colombo, Sri Lanka.[72] He followed this with a performance at Bangalore Club in November 2019 and was the headlining act in Vietnam for the Hozo Festival in December 2019.[73] Ricky was invited to perform at the MEG Centre, Bangalore to over 7000 members of the Indian Army in December 2019. He has since remarked that his performances for the Indian Army are the biggest highlights of his career. January 2020 saw Ricky headline the Jaipur Literature Festival and he followed this with a live performance to over 20000 people at Sirsi for Kadambotsava 2020.[74][75]

With the live music industry grinding to a halt due to the lockdown and other restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ricky performed 3 large scale virtual concerts between April and July 2020. These concerts were telecast on television in over 75 countries with an estimated viewership of over 200 million people. Several global organizations such as UN Climate Change, UNEP, UNICEF, WHO, Earth Day Network, WWF, UNCCD etc joined hands to telecast these concerts simultaneously. This also included the world’s largest concert for children in association with UNICEF.[76][77] In September 2020, Ricky performed multiple virtual concerts at the United Nations General Assembly, including the closing of the High level Biodiversity Conference. Several world leaders and prominent dignitaries were in attendance.[78]

Ricky Kej with former Secretary General of the United Nations Ban ki Moon, at the Asia Initiatives Gala in New York

In 2008 Ricky received an advertising award at the One Show Awards, followed by a second advertising award at the Adfest Asia Awards in 2009.[79] In 2010, he was nominated for an award at the Cannes Film Festival for his jingle for Nike.[80] He has composed the music for the 2011 Cricket World Cup opening ceremony, held at Dhakka on 17 February 2011. He was dubbed an "India Rules Artist" by TV channel VH1 in 2013.[81] Ricky has appeared as a guest judge on many singing reality shows in India. Ricky is a trustee and founding member of the Majolly Music Trust. Their main objectives are to raise the standards of music education in India and to set up a pension fund for old and infirm musicians who are no longer able to make a livelihood from musical performances and recordings.[82] In 2019, he also composed music for the documentary Wild Karnataka.[83] which was extremely well received. In 2020, Ricky was shortlisted as a finalist in two categories at the prestigious Australia India Business awards (IABCA).[84]

Ricky Kej married Varsha Gowda in March 2014. Varsha hails from a prominent Kannadiga Gowda family whereas Kej hails from a Punjabi-Marwari family.[85] Varsha is also a musician and is credited in several of Kej's recent compositions.[86]