Tributes pour in for Shafin Ahmed

Shafin Ahmed is one of the iconic musicians and a generational personality. He along with his band 'Miles' has given us some of the timeless songs like 'Phiriye Dao' and 'Harano Sukh' many of us still sing along to.
This pioneering musician passed away at the age of 63 at a hospital in Virginia. The cause of his death was heart failure. The music scene has since turned gloomy due to the loss. Few fellow musicians have weighed in and shared their thoughts and memories of the much revered musician.
"Me and a few of my friends started the whole trend of band music in the country but it was the youth like Shafin who carried the trend forward. He became really good with music, being the son of Firoza Begum," Ferdous Wahid, one of the veteran pop musicians of the country, expressed. "He and his brother had a lot of discussion with me when they formed their band, about how to make the band music scene bigger in Bangladesh. And I tried to give Shafin Ahmed the best advice I could and he used to respect me as well. Shafin Ahmed will forever remain a bright shining star in the history of Bangladesh's band music."
Hasan is another band music icon of Bangladesh who started only a few years after he was inspired by the contemporary bands like Miles. 
"I was supposed to go abroad with Shafin Ahmed to perform in a band concert next month. We talked a few times about it in the past few days as well, about the intricacies and details of the concert," Hasan said. "I was not expecting the tragic news today and it honestly devastated me. I grew fond of band music because of Shafin Ahmed and he inspired a lot of others from my generation as well. He was a wonderful human being and a great musician. He will always be remembered as one of the favourites in history."
Dilshad Nahar Kona is one of the active singers of the country, working in various projects right now. "I have been a fan of Shafin Ahmed's songs since childhood. I had a beautiful connection with him," she said. "I sang in a duet with him five years ago. Aside from that I also met him during various stage programmes and we used to have small but good chats. Shafin Ahmed ws really eloquent as well as being a great musician and I still cannot believe that he left us so suddenly."
Runa Laila, another veteran musician weighed in by saying, "My daughter was the first to inform me about Shafin's departure from America. Upon hearing the news, I couldn't hold back my tears." 
"I had known Shafin as the son of the respected artist Firoza Begum Apa. I also really liked his singing. A few days ago, he came to my house to discuss copyright issues. That day, we talked a lot about music. I never imagined that Shafin would become the headline of such heart-wrenching news shortly after. Our country will always feel the absence of an artist like Shafin Ahmed. I pray for the peace of Shafin's soul," she added.
Syed Abdul Hadi is an award winning playback singer of Bangladesh. "Shafin is one of the prominent figures who popularised band music in Bangladesh. As the son of Firoza Begum and Kamal Dasgupta, he elevated his parents' honour by entering the music world," he said. "I have known the two brothers since they were young. However, after Shafin became popular in the band scene, I started listening to their music. The departure of such a talented artist is profoundly sorrowful."

 Musician Jon Kabir said, "He was and always will be the only Bangladeshi musician who could play very complicated basslines and could sing flawlessly while playing his bass guitar. People will remember him as an entertainer, but in reality, he was much more than just that."