Malaysia’s prominent Punjabi music artist, Datuk Sukhjit Singh Gill, has died following a heart attack at the age of 34. Sukhjit, also known as Surj, was one half of the acclaimed Goldkartz band, alongside his brother Datuk Manjit Singh Gill. He was also a lawyer, like his brother.
Reports indicate that the Malaysian Bhangra icon suffered a heart attack at 4:15 pm the previous day. In a statement, his older brother Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill revealed that Sukhjit was the youngest son of Ipoh-based lawyer Tan Sri Darshan Singh Gill.
He tied the knot with Datin Simerjit Kaur in 2019 and together they have a two-year-old daughter. Amarjit, who is the vice-president of the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) and an International Cycling Union (UCI) management board member, mentioned that Goldkartz’s recent music release, Sab Gazab, garnered 34 million views on YouTube in just eight months.
He also shared that Goldkartz has been honored with numerous local and international awards and is recognized as Malaysia’s Bhangra Ambassadors. They were the first Malaysian musicians to perform at Wembley in Britain and have also contributed music for Bollywood. In 2014, Sukhjit was called to the Bar at the Ipoh High Court, becoming the fifth member of his family to become a lawyer, having graduated in law from Universiti Malaya.
The funeral is scheduled to take place at the Sikh Crematorium in Jalan Gurdwara (next to Wadda Gurdwara Sahib Ipoh) at 1pm tomorrow. The cortege will leave the residence at No. 20, Jansz Avenue here at 12:45pm.
