Sundar Popo (born Sunilal Popo Bahora, 4 November 1943, Monkey Town, Barrac… Read Full Bio ↴Sundar Popo (born Sunilal Popo Bahora, 4 November 1943, Monkey Town, Barrackpore, Trinidad & Tobago, died 2 May 2000) was a Chutney musician from Trinidad and Tobago. He popularized Chutney music, beginning with his 1970 hit "Nana and Nani".
Popo grew up in a musical family. Both his parents were musicians; his mother was a singer and his father was an accomplished tassa drummer. At the age of 15, he began singing at bhajans at church and weddings in his hometown of Monkey Town. Bahora worked as a watchman at a Barrackpore factory, and trained under Ustad James Ransawak. In 1969, at a mattikoor in Princes Town, he met Moean Mohammed, a radio host and promoter. After listening to "Nani and Nana", a song with lyrics in both Hindi and English, describing the affairs of an Indian grandmother and grandfather, Mohammed got maestro Harry Mahabir to record the song at Television House, accompanied by the BWIA National Indian Orchestra. The song revolutionized East Indian music in Trinidad & Tobago. After the success of Nani and Nana, Bahora devoted more of his time to his singing career. He followed "Nani and Nana" with an album combining Trinidadian folk songs with traditional Hindu material. In total, he recorded more than fifteen albums. He is best known for his song Scorpion Gyul which spoke about love, death, and happiness. His other hits include "Oh My Lover", "Don't Fall in Love", and "Saas More Lage (also known as I Wish I Was A Virgin)". His songs were covered several times by the Indian duo Babla & Kanchan, who had a major success with a version of his "Pholourie Bina Chutney", bringing him to a wider international audience, and leading to tours of Europe and the United States.
It was through the production and promotion of Mohan Jaikaran and his JMC music empire and later with Masala radio that Sundar Popo became recognized as the pioneer and founder of Chutney music. There wasn't a chutney show in Trinidad or New York City promoted by Jaikaran that Sundar Popo wasn't a part of. Jaikaran's Mother's Day concerts were always headlined by Sundar Popo.
Popo won many awards during his career, and in 1995, Black Stalin won the Trinidad & Tobago Calypso Monarch title with his "Tribute to Sundar Popo".
In addition to his solo albums, Popo has also released collaborations with Trinidadian performer Anand Yankaran, and JMC Triveni.
While Popo had recorded and performed prolifically since the early 1970s, failing health and eyesight forced him to slow down. At the 2000 Chutney Monarch competition, his performance had to be cut short after one song, and he played his final concert on 1 April 2000, in Connecticut. On 2 May 2000, he died at the home he had built in Barrackpore, from heart and kidney ailments relating to diabetes. His funeral was attended by Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Basdeo Panday.
Popo grew up in a musical family. Both his parents were musicians; his mother was a singer and his father was an accomplished tassa drummer. At the age of 15, he began singing at bhajans at church and weddings in his hometown of Monkey Town. Bahora worked as a watchman at a Barrackpore factory, and trained under Ustad James Ransawak. In 1969, at a mattikoor in Princes Town, he met Moean Mohammed, a radio host and promoter. After listening to "Nani and Nana", a song with lyrics in both Hindi and English, describing the affairs of an Indian grandmother and grandfather, Mohammed got maestro Harry Mahabir to record the song at Television House, accompanied by the BWIA National Indian Orchestra. The song revolutionized East Indian music in Trinidad & Tobago. After the success of Nani and Nana, Bahora devoted more of his time to his singing career. He followed "Nani and Nana" with an album combining Trinidadian folk songs with traditional Hindu material. In total, he recorded more than fifteen albums. He is best known for his song Scorpion Gyul which spoke about love, death, and happiness. His other hits include "Oh My Lover", "Don't Fall in Love", and "Saas More Lage (also known as I Wish I Was A Virgin)". His songs were covered several times by the Indian duo Babla & Kanchan, who had a major success with a version of his "Pholourie Bina Chutney", bringing him to a wider international audience, and leading to tours of Europe and the United States.
It was through the production and promotion of Mohan Jaikaran and his JMC music empire and later with Masala radio that Sundar Popo became recognized as the pioneer and founder of Chutney music. There wasn't a chutney show in Trinidad or New York City promoted by Jaikaran that Sundar Popo wasn't a part of. Jaikaran's Mother's Day concerts were always headlined by Sundar Popo.
Popo won many awards during his career, and in 1995, Black Stalin won the Trinidad & Tobago Calypso Monarch title with his "Tribute to Sundar Popo".
In addition to his solo albums, Popo has also released collaborations with Trinidadian performer Anand Yankaran, and JMC Triveni.
While Popo had recorded and performed prolifically since the early 1970s, failing health and eyesight forced him to slow down. At the 2000 Chutney Monarch competition, his performance had to be cut short after one song, and he played his final concert on 1 April 2000, in Connecticut. On 2 May 2000, he died at the home he had built in Barrackpore, from heart and kidney ailments relating to diabetes. His funeral was attended by Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Basdeo Panday.
Caroni Gyul
Sundar Popo Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Sundar Popo:
Don't Fall In Love Yuh fallin from a plane gyal, yuh from above, Listen…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Jake
Good song
@devendrarampersaud7266
Good times ,good memories these songs has brought so much joy and happiness to family and friends.May you Sundar Popo rest in paradise.
@mohanipersad-seeraj9337
sundar popo set the bar so high that no one has been able to reach it to this day
@coreenragoonanan7706
So true , a unique voice, love it so much. Just the best
@riyadhrafique8377
Invigoration, keep it up!! I saw you posted the album Lingering Melodies with Narie Mahabir & his father Harry Mahabir with BWIA Orchestra- a beautiful LP, I have that on cassette. If you have other recordings for example, there is the National Indian Orchestra of Trinidad & Tobago at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto Canada, from 1979. It featured songs with vocalist Polly Sookraj, and was MC by Shamoon Mohammed. If you have it in your posession, please upload it. I know most YouTube users- including myself will appreciate it!
@invigoration7553
No sorry dont have, will keep looking :)
@darrylramnarace5133
000
@haydenfrontin3055
What a Unique Voice Master of the Chutney Unbeatable Could You have Really Really Beaten this Guy RIP you left Us with Classic Gems who fits his Shoes????? No one
@arvindkumarsinghchauhan9938
Ab naa jayabe baboor van me, kaantwa garajaaye..... (Girimitiya Brothers)
Ham naa jaebe sasoor ghar re baabaa,
Jeeyaraa jar gayal hammar baabaa..... [ Uttar Pradesh (Province),Bihar(Province) of Mahaan Bharat Desh--The Great lndia🇮🇳]
@richardshabana310
Will always be my legend