AR Rahman, the global music icon, has made it to headlines several times in the past few months for various reasons, but this time, he revealed an incident that changed his musical journey forever. The singer-composer recently revealed a little-known incident from his early years that became a turning point in his career, when a drunk guitarist’s remark left a mark on him and took him seven years to move on from that.
AR Rahman recalls an incident from his younger days that stung him
AR Rahman, speaking to O2 India, recently shared how a drunken remark by a guitarist in his band during the mid-1980s pushed him to transform his music and discover his unique style. Back then, he was just 19 years old, and was already part of a band. Talking about the incident, he recalled one night when a guitarist, visibly drunk, questioned his abilities. The singer-composer shared:
“I went through a phase where I was playing for a couple of composers and I was in a band. This one time, when I was young, the guitarist in the band was drunk and he turned to me and said, ‘What are you playing? You are playing film music.’ He made a very condescending comment about my playing.”
The singer also recalled that while the snide remark did not affect him immediately, it took a few weeks when the words really started to dawn on him. Rahman gradually started to realise that the drunk guitarist was indeed right. Recalling how it took him a long time to recover from the impact of the comment, Rahman remarked:
“At the moment, I didn’t realise what he meant, but weeks later, it hit me and I realised that whatever he said was right. When I thought deeply about his remark about me, I realised that I was getting influenced by the composers I was playing for. After this, I consciously began to move away from it. And my mental journey of identifying ‘what will be my style’ began.”
AR Rahman started to reinvent himself after the guitarist’s remarks dawned on him
The guitarist’s criticism, though harsh, sparked a journey of self-reflection and transformation that significantly helped in enhancing AR Rahman’s perspective on his musical career. Rahman consciously worked on breaking away from those influences and took nearly seven years to craft his distinct musical identity.
“It took me about seven years, and I completely moved away from the influences…Sometimes, certain remarks imprint in your heart so much that it becomes a positive influence to move away from that stuff. This helped me learn to move away from my own influence… I revive the soul of my music but move away from the packaging.”
AR Rahman’s musical legacy
Today, AR Rahman stands as a testament to resilience and reinvention. The incident that once stung has become a pivotal chapter in his story, and he is now one of the most sought-after music composers in the industry.
Do you think the genius of AR Rahman would have blossomed so well without that drunken remark?
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