Arjun (singer)

Arjun Coomaraswamy, known mononymously as Arjun, is a Sri Lankan-British singer-songwriter, record producer and actor born and raised in London.

Arjun
Birth nameArjun Coomaraswamy
Also known asArjun
Born (1990-09-23) 23 September 1990
London, United Kingdom
GenresR&B,
Pop
Occupation(s)Singer, Songwriter, Record Producer, Instrumentalist, Actor
InstrumentsVocals,
Guitar, Keyboard, Drum, Flute
Years active2011—present
LabelsT-Series, Universal Music Group, Sony Music India, Zee Music Company, Prince Music Series, VIP Records
Associated actsGuru Randhawa, Anirudh Ravichander, Charles Bosco, Raxstar, Sway, Andrea Jeremiah, Jonita Gandhi, Vidya Vox
Websitearjunofficial.com

As of 2021, he currently has over 127.3 million views on YouTube.[1]

In 2019, Arjun released a tribute song entitled "One Last Time" for his wife Natasha Sandhu who died in 2018 due to a cardiac arrest. The music video has received over a million views and peaked #12 on trending in the UK.

Early and personal life

Arjun was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. His mother is Sinhalese and father is Tamil.[2] Arjun's father Indrajit Coomaraswamy is a former governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka. On 29 September 2018, Arjun released a statement of the loss of his wife Natasha Sandhu. She was his publicist and an integral part of his music career. She died due to a sudden cardiac arrest on 20 September 2018.[3][4] On 3 December 2019, he released the song "One Last Time" dedicated to her. The music video includes some footage on his wife.

Career

Arjun rose to attention following an R&B cover version of the Tamil song "Why This Kolaveri Di"[5][6] which was uploaded on YouTube in December 2011. Arjun's R&B Remix ("How could you do this to me?") of "Why This Kolaveri Di" attracted over 3 million YouTube views in one month,[7] He was later featured on CNN, NDTV and Star News. The song now has over 204 million views.

Arjun is a multi-instrumentalist, and plays the guitar, piano, bass, drums, and flute, in addition to singing and beat-boxing. He has had a growing presence on YouTube and on social media since 2011. He has currently over 750 million views on YouTube, over 1,500,000 Facebook fans, 350,000 Instagram followers, and 110,000 Twitter followers. He has performed on every continent.

Arjun became known for his fusion of contemporary Western and Eastern sounds, combining R&B with elements of South Asian music.[8] Arjun was nominated for ‘Best Newcomer‘ at the ‘Brit Asia Music Awards 2011’.[9] In December 2011, His song ‘Stargazer’ was voted the number 2 song on the first ever Asian Video Chart on Kiss Tv (No.1 was A.R Rahman's group ‘Super Heavy’, which included Mick Jagger & Joss Stone.) [10]

In January 2012, Arjun was chosen as one of MTV's "Brand New" (the Top 20 Unsigned Acts) out of thousands of contestants.[11] Brand New has previously featured artists such as Jessie J and Tinie Tempah.

Arjun won Best Urban Act at the 2012 UK Asian Music Awards.[12] In 2012 Arjun played the role of Luke Lewis in the new online drama "Steffi".[13] He was later chosen by Anirudh Ravichander to perform a song in the movie Vanakkam Chennai and subsequently sang and composed other songs for South Indian movies.[14]

In August 2012, Arjun was selected to sing the official theme song for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 alongside Bathiya and Santhush.[15] He also produced music for the Sri Lankan Premier League, performing at the opening ceremony of the tournament held at Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo in August 2012.[16] In October 2012, Arjun won ‘Best Urban Act’ (in association with the MOBOs) at the UK Asian Music Awards 2012.[17] He received the award from MOBOs founder Kanya King and Choice FM's DJ Kojo. He also performed as a headline act at the Award Ceremony, held at Wembley Arena.

In early 2013, Arjun did a live acoustic session on BBC Radio 1 and was later profiled by DJ's Fearne Cotton and Nihal on Fearne's Radio 1 show [18]

In July 2014, he performed at Rock Assembly in Wembley Arena, alongside Conor Maynard, Professor Green and Ella Eyre.[19][20] In August 2014 he was a Guest of Honour and sang at the India Day Parade in New York City, the largest annual gathering of Indians in the US.[21]

In September 2014, he performed at Diwali in Time Square, New York, to a crowd of over 200,000.[22] In October 2014, he appeared on the BBC Television programme, Blue Peter.[23] The same year, Arjun signed a record deal with T-Series, India's biggest music label.[24] ‘I'll Be Waiting’, his first single with T-Series album charted at #1 on the iTunes India Chart.[25] Arjun again won Eastern Eye Artist of the Year in 2014.[26]

In 2016, Arjun was awarded "Musical Artist of the Year" by Anokhi Media, North America's leading South Asian entertainment and lifestyle media and events company, based in Toronto.[27]

In April 2016 he released the song "Suit" with Guru Randhawa which went on to win ‘Club Song of the Year’ at the PTC Awards in 2017 It was also voted ‘Punjabi Song of the Year’ on BBC Asian Network. It was later featured in the Bollywood movie ‘Hindi Medium’ starring Irrfan Khan (released May 2017).[28]

In March 2018, he featured in Humza Arshad's parody of the viral Nike advertisement, known as "Nothing Beats A Londoner", featuring notable Londoners from underrepresented minorities such as Juggy D, H-Dhami, Tasha Tah, Sevaqk, Bobby Friction, Raxstar, Tez Ilyas, Mumzy Stranger, Steel Banglez, Char Avell, Jay Sean, Corner Shop Show (Islah Abdur-Rahman, Michael Truong, Can Snatchy Kabadayi) and Naughty Boy.[29] Vidya Vox collaborated with Arjun in 2017 for Joshua Tree for the original song, "Diamonds." [30]

In March 2018, Arjun released his first album named Closer To Home with Dcypha Productions under the Island Records label of the - Universal Music Group which was at Trend at iTunes Store. His Album contained other Artists such as - ThePropheC, Manifest. He also did a Collaboration with Raxtar on VIP Records named Lost Our Way on 11 July 2018.

In 2019, Arjun featured in the soundtrack of the Indian film "Gully Boy" on the song "Goriye", and also collaborated with Dutch artist First Man on the song "Soniyere".[31]

In 2019 Arjun created a World Cup Remix of "Dance" with f1rstman, Juggy D, Raxstar, and Mumzy Stranger.

Discography

Albums
  • 2018: Closer to Home

Songs

(Selective)

  • "Remember Tonight" (21 July 2010)
  • "Stargazer" (feat. Raxstar) (24 January 2011)
  • "Vampire" (feat. Starz) (4 July 2011)
  • "With Us or Against Us" (with JAY MO) (16 January 2012)
  • "Run Away/ Thuli Thuli" (2012)
  • "Same Girl" (feat. Guru Randhawa) (5 December 2012)
  • "Take It Back" (16 September 2013)
  • "I’ll Be Waiting / Kabhi Jo Baadal" (2014)
  • "Excuse me Girl / Ambarsariya" (2014)
  • "I Know You Want It / Sheila Ki jawani" (2015)
  • "All of Me / Baarish" (2015)
  • "Can’t Forget You / Tujhe Bhula Diya" (2015)
  • "Frozen"(feat. Sway) (18 December 2015)
  • "Drifter" (feat. Andrea Jeremiah) (14 February 2016 )
  • "SUIT" (feat. Guru Randhawa[32]) ( 24 June 2016 )
  • "Sanam Ho Ja" (2 September 2016)
  • "Akhiyan" (feat. Falak Shabir) (27 December 2016)
  • "Alone" (2017)
  • "Diamonds" (feat. Vidya Vox) (2017)
  • "Vaadi" (2018)
  • "Vaadi Remix" (2018)
  • "S.O.S. " (2018)
  • "Shoulda Met Me First" (2018)
  • "One Last Time" (2019)
  • "Tingo" (with Mickey Singh) (2019)

Remixes

"Kabhi Kabhi" (feat. Shivali & Natasha) (20 September 2011)

Soundtracks

References
  1. Kyriazis, Stefan (9 March 2016). "Arjun strips down in a World Video Exclusive. Zayn who? Meet the UK's HOTTEST new star". Express.co.uk.
  2. de Mel, Chirusha (8 October 2013). "Arjun Coomaraswamy: Sri Lankan born R&B Artist in UK". Uslanka.net. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  3. Baddhan, Raj (29 September 2018). "Arjun releases statement on loss of wife Natasha Sandhu". BizAsialive.com. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  4. "Arjun shares heartfelt post after wife Natasha Sandhu's death | Pakistan Today". Pakistantoday.com.pk. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  5. Tharany, R. (22 December 2011). "Why this Kolaveri Di?". Asian Tribune. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  6. "Lankan takes 'Kolaveri di' to another level | The Sunday Leader". Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  7. "Why this kolaveri di: a universal tune?". Rnw.org.
  9. "Brit Asia Music Awards Nominees - DESIblitz". 5 September 2011.
  10. "Arjun 101: Introduction to the R&B sensation". 20 February 2015.
  11. "MTV Brand New for 2012 reveals unsigned artist Context as final nominee: Pressparty". Pressparty.com.
  12. "Round-up: Asian Music Awards". MTV. 28 October 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  13. "Steffi – Behind the Scenes – Who's Who? Characters". This Is Drama. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  14. Kumar, S. R. Ashok (10 August 2013). "Audio beat: Vanakkam Chennai - Take a welcome break". Thehindu.com.
  15. "ICC World Twenty20 2012 Theme Song (International Version) - BnS, Arjun, Randhir & Umaria". YouTube. 5 September 2012.
  16. "Cricket - Sri Lanka Premier League Opening Ceremony - SPORTZPICS Photography". Sportzpics.photoshelter.com.
  17. "Special Report: Lebara Asian Music Awards 2012". Bollyspice.com. 29 October 2012.
  18. "Arjun Tabla Soul Session for Nihal". YouTube. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  19. "Arjun Photos Photos: Rock Assembly". Zimbio.com. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  20. "The Trust Academies' Digital Champions get top gig award". Academytransformationtrust.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  21. "Parade Gallery". Fianynjct.org. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  22. "Arjun in NY - Times Square". 21 September 2014.
  23. "CBBC: Blue Peter - Arjun Performance". YouTube. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  24. "T-Series now world's no. 1 music channel on YouTube". Mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com.
  25. "Bollywood Fever Feat. Arjun - Futuristiq Entertainment". Futuristiqentertainment.com.
  26. "Point Blank Student Success: Arjun, Diezmo & Adam Scavo". Plus.pointblankmusicschool.com.
  27. "Arjun Wins "Musical Artist of the Year 2016"". YouTube. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  28. "Suit Suit Video Song - Hindi Medium - Irrfan Khan & Saba Qamar - Guru Randhawa - Arjun". YouTube. 13 April 2017.
  29. "HUMZA ARSHAD: Nike Ad Parody". HumzaProductions. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  30. "As a kid, Vidya Vox hid her Indian roots. Now, her music merges India and the U.S." NBC News. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  31. "Gully Boy Music Review: A one of its kind blend of melodious songs and powerful raps". Timesnownews.com. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  32. "Arjun talks Life, Collaborations, and Love of Music". DESIblitz.com. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  33. "YouTube Sensation Arjun Coomaraswamy releases new single Ill Be Waiting (Kabhi Jo Baadal)". Mensxp.com/hindi. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
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