Shawdesh Desk:

Iconic rockstar James (real name Faruq Mahfuz Anam), one of Bangladesh’s most beloved artists who also enjoys regional fame following forays into Bollywood, turned 55 on Wednesday.

Marking the occasion, his loyal and devoted fanbase along with friends and family members showered the artist with love and blessings.

Fans of this flamboyant rockstar from all over the world expressed their heartfelt best wishes and good tidings on social media platforms as well.

James was born in 1964 at Naogaon, and later grew up in Rajshahi and Port City Chittagong. He is the frontman and lead guitarist of country’s renowned rock band ‘Nagar Baul’, formerly known as ‘Feelings’- which he is associated with since 1981.

He rose to his well deserving fame and success sooner than imagined as one of the pioneers of psychedelic rock in Bangladesh. In addition to the music, tales of his Bohemian lifestyle and the odd indiscretion here and there served to augment his image as a rockstar.

Having a cult following from the very beginning of his musical journey for his unique style, he is often called the ‘Guru’ by his fans and musical devotees, some of whom went on to become recognized artists in their own right. He was highly influenced by the wave of Western acts that captured imaginations worldwide starting from the Sixties, such as The Doors (the choice of his stage name is said to be a nod to Doors frontman James Douglas (Jim) Morrison), Dire Straits and Led Zeppelin.

Having taken to music on a voracious diet of the British New Wave and American rock n’ roll leant the music of James, through almost all his incarnations, an almost natural idiom others in the Bangla ‘band music’ scene struggled to match.

Started with the album ‘Station Road’ (1987), James, along with his band ‘Feelings’ started gaining popularity for their versatile albums ‘Jail Theke Bolchhi’ (1993), ‘Nagar Baul’ (1996), ‘Lace Fita Lace’ (1998) and ‘Dushtu Chheler Dol’ (2001), which also saw the band adopt the new name ‘Nagar Baul’.

In between his work with the band, James also maintained his popularity through numerous side projects that resulted in a spate of solo albums. His first solo album was ‘Anonya’ (1988), followed by ‘Palabe Kothai’ (1995), ‘Dukhini Dukkho Koro na’  (1997), ‘Thik Achhe Bondhu’ (1999), ‘Aami Tomader-I Lok’ (2003), ‘Janata Express’ (2005), ‘Toofan’ (2006) and ‘Kal Jomuna’ (2009)- all had been massive hits. He is also known for his popular scores in Dhallywood films.

Notable lyricists including Poet Shamsur Rahman, Prince Mahmud, Marjuk Rasel, Shibli, Dehlvi and musicians such as Lucky Akhand, Manam Ahmed and Prince Mahmud frequently collaborated with him.

James made his debut playback in Bollywood in collaboration with famous Indian-Bengali composer Pritam for the movie ‘Gangster’ in 2005. The song, titled “Bheegi Bheegi” soon became a blockbuster hit and remained at the top of the Bollywood Hit List for more than a month. He collaborated with Pritam again for the movie ‘Woh Lamhe’ in 2006 for the song “Chal Chalein”, “Rishtey” and “Alvida (Reprise)” in the movie ‘Life in a Metro’ and “Bebasi” in ‘Warning’ (2013).

Apart from being a successful rockstar, James is also known for being an accomplished photographer and entrepreneur. He is the chairman of the board of directors and co-owner of country’s renowned production house RED dot Multimedia Ltd.