When Bappi Lahiri revealed that without Lata Mangeshkar's support, he would have been swept away by the competition

Bappi Lahiri was always vocal about the blessings and support he had received from Lata Mangeshkar in his career. Bappi Da passed away less than two weeks after her death this year.
In an exclusive interview with ETimes in 2012, Bappi had said, “I was 4 when in the Eden Garden locality of Kolkata where we lived, Lataji came home and blessed me. I still have a picture of me sitting in her lap.She sang many Bangla songs for my father (Aparesh Lahiri) who was a well-known composer in Kolkata. From then on she has supported me. She sang my first composition in a Bengali film Daadu. If she hadn’t sung for me, I’d have been swept away by the competition.”

Elaborating further, he added, “My first big Bollywood hit score was Aamir Khan’s father Tahir Hussain’s Zakhmee. In that Lataji sang Abhi abhi thi dushmani and Aao tujhe chand pe le jaaon. Both big hits. That film also had the Asha-Kishore duet Jalta hai jiya mera bhigi-bhigi raaton mein which was a rage. Then there were melodies in the films Chalte Chalte and Aap Ki Khatir (which had the chartbuster Bambai se aaya mera dost) which are hummed to this day. That’s how it all began for me.”
According to Doctor Deepak Namjoshi, the singer-composer passed away due to Obstructive Sleep Apnea. He was 69.