Leo Kalyan

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Leo Kalyan is a British-Pakistani singer, songwriter, and model. His family is basically from India, and some of his relatives still live in Rohtak, Haryana and Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.As per his Instagram account, his preferred pronouns are he, she and they.While he was growing up, he used to listen to Bollywood songs by the legendary Indian singers’ Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, and A. R. Rahman. From there, he started developing an interest in music. He then did his training in Indian classical music. In an interview, while talking about developing an interest in music, he said, I have been singing songs since the age of 13. I wanted to become a singer since childhood. Initially, I kept singing a secret from my family. Once he caught me singing Umrao Jaan in my room. My family did not support me earlier. Even today my father says why don’t you become a music lawyer and a music journalist? I’ve always loved music. I grew up watching so much Bollywood—from Pakeezah and Umrao Jaan to DDLJ and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The songs in these movies were at some point the soundtrack to my life. I used to steal my mom’s CDs and listen to Lata ji, Asha ji, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and AR Rahman—all the stalwarts, basically. Somewhere along the line, I discovered my passion for music.” Leo Kalyan’s childhood picture.AAfter a few years, he started appearing in his music videos. He has been featured in the music videos of his songs like ‘Fingertips’ (2015), ‘Daydream’ (2016), ‘Jesus to a Child’ (2018), and ‘Time Can Wait’ (2019).In 2015, he started performing at various stage shows and live events. Leo Kalyan performing on stage.In an interview, Leo talked about his inspirations, he said that he was inspired by the life story of American drag queen RuPaul, and in music, he looks up to famous singers like A. R. Rahman, Mariah Carey, and Janet Jackson.In an interview, he talked about facing racism in the UK music industry. He said, Brown people are still not getting signed. Record labels don’t invest in South-Asian talent, so in turn, brown kids don’t pursue music careers. It’s really that simple. Think for a moment how few South-Asian people there are in the music industry, apart from M.I.A… Mainstream platforms like BBC Radio 1 are partly to blame because they don’t support South-Asian artists. Imagine if they didn’t play any black artists on Radio 1. Imagine if they said ‘all black artists need to go to Radio 1Xtra or BBC Caribbean’. That’s sort of what happens with brown musicians – they’re ghettoised to the BBC Asian network, and even if they rise to the top there, they aren’t allowed to cross over to mainstream radio. It’s shocking.”.He has worked as a model in various modelling assignments. In 2019, he walked the ramp at the London Fashion Week for the British-Bangladeshi fashion designer Rahmur Rahman. Leo Kalyan in a photoshoot.Leo Kalyan once shared that telling his family members that he was a queer was very difficult for him. He first shared it with his sisters, and in his early 20s, he told his mother about his sexual orientation. He then penned down a letter to his father in which he talked about being queer. Gradually, his family accepted the fact that he was queer.During an interview, he talked about getting trolled on social media for his sexual orientation. He said, Hate comments don’t bother me at all. because firstly – some of them are so genuinely funny, i share them with my friends and we laugh endlessly (laughing emoticon) also, hate comments always remind me that just by casually living my life – I’m actually CHALLENGING people & societal norms. which means: I’m doing something right.”.