Bamba Bakya

Bhakkiyaraj (31 October 1972 – 2 September 2022), popularly known by his stage name, Bamba Bakya, was an Indian Tamil playback singer and musician. He predominantly worked alongside music composer A. R. Rahman on numerous collaborations in films. He received the name Bamba Bakya after A. R. Rahman asked him to sing songs for him just like African musician Sory Bamba. It later went onto become a stage name as well as an identity of him. He was well known for his unique baritone.

A. R. Rahman included him in the 2010 film Raavanan, during which he sang in the song "Kedakkari" (at the time he was credited as Bhakyaraj).

In 2024 A. R. Rahman revealed that with the help of AI, voice models of late singers Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed had been used in composing the track 'Thimiri Yezhuda' for the upcoming film Lal Salaam.

Bakya made his debut as a lead playback singer in S. Shankar's directorial 2.0 and sang his first single titled "Pullinangal" which became an instant hit and became a chartbuster. Prior to his entry into film industry, he mostly sang devotional songs. Prior to his untimely demise, he also rendered his voice for Mani Ratnam's historical drama film Ponniyin Selvan: I.

Bakya died on 2 September 2022, at age 49 due to cardiac arrest. He had been admitted to a hospital at Chennai after he complained of having a severe chest pain.