Nabin Bhattarai

Nabin K. Bhattarai (Nepali: नबीन के. भट्टराई; born March 14, 1974) is a Nepali singer, songwriter, and composer. He is the eldest son of Mr. Kalyan Bhattarai and Mrs. Nirmala Bhattarai.

Musical career

He started his musical career in 1990 with a band named "The Steel Wheels" as a vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the band. Later he broke up with the band to start his solo career. Nabin was able to capture the attention of many Nepali music-lovers with his first released song Aankhama Timilai in his first album Raharai Raharma. After the success of his first album, he has given ten more albums to Nepali music industry (from 1990 to 2012). His most recent album is Kathmandu. He is considered to be the first real pop-star and unarguably one of the greatest pop singers of Nepal with a huge number of fans following.^[1]

He has won the Sajha Smriti Award for Best Male Vocalist on two occasions, first for Preetka Geet and then for Aankhama Timilai. He also won Album of the Year Award for Raharai Raharama. He further won the Shikhar Hits FM Music Awards 2054 (1997) on Best Male Vocal category for his hit single Sanjhapakha. He has also won the Chhinnalata Award, and at that time he was the youngest artist to receive that award. His album Aabhash is unarguably one of the most popular albums of all time in Nepal's modern music history. He also won Hits FM Music Awards 2060 (2003) for his sixth album Nabin. He has won several other awards and recognition afterwards.^[2] Some of his notable hits include Sanjhapakha', Timilai Ma Dobatoma, Timile Herda Kasailai, Timilai Bhetne, Chaina Joona', Yaad Le Timro and many others. As of 2011, he had been seen a lot in social works.

Personal life

Painting, sports and listening music were his interest since childhood and they still are. As soon as he graduated high school from Budhanilkantha, he established a band 'The Steel Wheels' with some of his friends. Nabin was the rhythm guitarist in the band. Band performed few concerts but was largely unknown in the mainstream. All the band members except Nabin left Nepal for career abroad. However the band acted as the catalyst in his musical career. As per his personal interest, he recorded his first song Aankhama Timilai which was an instant hit. Later, he contributed many more hits to Nepali music and the contribution is still going on.

Lately, Nabin has also started composing for some Nepali movies, too. He composed for the movie Challenge. Nabin got married with Nabina Rajbhandari on June 23, 2010. Nabin is now a father of a baby boy who was born on April 10, 2012.

Inspiration

Nabin is influenced by western rock bands like Pink Floyd, The Doors and Deep Purple. He used to sing their songs while he was with The Steel Wheels. He was also inspired by Nepali singers Suresh Kumar and Kunti Moktan.

Musical style

Most of Nabin's earlier songs have a soft touch to them, depicting the loneliness of a young lover. While his first four albums Raharai Raharma, Aabhas, Smriti, Samjhana, and Samarpan were very successful, he began experimenting new music even more from his sixth album, Nabin. Many of his compositions after then had a rock touch in them, which was positively received by Nepali audiences. In all his successive albums, he has tried to give something new to Nepali music. His song Ali Alikati Pida in the album G-Major was critically acclaimed by many for its folk and pop mix and the affluent use of musical instruments.

In his new album Kathmandu, he has also sung an English number called Million faces.

Discography

1) Raharai Raharma

2) Aabhas

3) Smriti

4) Samjhana

5) Samarpan

6) Nabin

7) The Blue

8) Smriti Re-loaded

9) G-Major

10) Nakshatra

11) Kathmandu

12) Slok
14

References

External links

• Nabin K. Bhattarai – The King of Pop
• Nabin Bhattarai – Dhaka Topi Nepali Music Collection
• Nabin K. Bhattarai Songs on NepaliCollections
• Nabin Bhattarai on Facebook