Parikrama's Lead Guitarist Sonam Sherpa Passes Away

New Delhi: Sonam Sherpa, founding member and lead guitarist of famous Indian rock and roll band Parikrama, passed away in Kurseong - where he had gone to record music for an upcoming movie - on Friday. 

According to reports, the 48-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest.

Although Sherpa did his schooling from Kalimpong in West Bengal, he later went to New Delhi to do his graduation from Kirori Mal College.

Sherpa was featured on CNBC's Young Turks, a show based on young entrepreneurs. The BBC also featured him and his band in a rockumentary during their Download Festival tour. He collaborated with his fellow band members Nitin Malik and Subir Malik to compose music for the Bollywood film, Manjunath.

Sherpa also owned and ran Parikrama School of Music based in Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi. Born on October 8, 1971, Sonam Sherpa had been playing the guitar since he was nine years old.

Known for lending tunes to several iconic numbers such as But It Rained, I Believe, Am I Dreaming, among several others, the lead guitarist rocked stages across the world while flaunting his Gibson Les Paul guitar.

Blues, screaming riffs and soulful slides were some of the paradigmatics of Sherpa. Sherpa was also a founder member of the band Mrigya and North East Express.

Sherpa had been a part of Parikrama as its lead guitarist since its inception in 1991. The band recently visited Arunachal Pradesh to shoot a song, Tears of the Wizard. Shot in Mechuka Valley, the song was released in August last year.

The news comes as a shock for the music fraternity of the country as Sherpa's work has invigorated and left a mark among many musicians.