A 13 Year old singer from Mumbai creating a mark for himself, its Jehaan!

Mumbai, 27^th March 2021: Jehaan is a 13 year old singer, songwriter, composer & award-winning pianist from Mumbai. He was featured by the legendary rock band, Queen, in September 2019 for his first ever cover of a song at the age of 11 – Queen’s brilliant “My Melancholy Blues” – on their YouTube channel and Facebook page. Lets take a quick look at who Jehaan is!

His Influences: While Jehaan’s roots are more classical than contemporary, he is greatly influenced by the music of Freddie Mercury in particular, Queen in general, as well as artists such as Lewis Capaldi, Jacob Collier, John Legend and Taylor Swift.

His Mentor: The CEO and MD of Universal Music (S Asia & India), Mr. Devraj Sanyal, has been mentoring him for the past year, encouraging him to be an all-round artist, who can sing, write, compose and play. He has been an invaluable source of inspiration and support and is Jehaan’s hero.  It is due to his encouragement that Jehaan released his debut single, “Lettin’ You Go”, this March, which he has written the lyrics of, composed the music for and sung.

About the Song: The song is for anyone who has endured separation and loss – whether it is a broken romance, a lost family member or beloved pet, a soldier going to war, a refugee family torn apart, or for someone watching a loved one struggle with illness. You can hear the song in the link below:

About Jehaan: Since Jehaan was less than five years old, his mother has been unwell with a chronic illness, due to which she was bedridden in the first 3-4 years. Jehaan was very moved by a poem he studied at school on World War II refugees and later by a Netflix documentary on Syrian child refugees.  The migrant labour crisis in India last summer influenced his understanding of what people of all ages endure when they are away from their loved ones.

Although Jehaan has been singing since he was a little tot, it was his music teacher in kindergarten who told his parents that he was a musical child and suggested that he begin choir classes at the Mehli Mehta Music Foundation, where Jehaan spent four happy years.  He learnt music theory and classical singing with Ms. Rael Mendes, who later moved to Scotland to pursue a degree in higher music education.

Jehaan’s interest in contemporary music led him to enrol at the Sobo House of Music, where its founder, Mr. Stephen Fernandes – who combines a love for children and music – helped him explore many genres, including jazz, rock and pop.  Mr. Fernandes recommended that Jehaan attend the Juilliard Summer Voice Programme at Geneva in 2019, and to Jehaan’s delight, he was admitted to it at short notice and had a wonderful time in those two short weeks there.  When he returned, he recorded his first ever song, a cover of Queen’s Melancholy Blues.

The Croaky Phase (as he calls it 😊 ): As Jehaan’s voice began changing, Mr. Sanyal recommended the expert vocal coaching of Ms. Samantha Noella of the Scattitude Academy of Music, which has enabled him to continue singing despite the “extremely annoying croaky phase” (his own words) of his voice.  Jehaan has been very fortunate to have the expertise and affectionate support of the legendary piano teacher, Prof. Blossom Mendonca.  He began learning the piano with her at the (relatively very late) age of ten, and in three short years, she has been able to help him graduate from his first notes to preparing for his Grade 8 piano exams.

Music Life: Jehaan is very grateful for the opportunities and guides that have come into his life and spends almost all his spare time on music.  He hopes to be able to pursue it more seriously as he grows older and find his purpose and passion in always.