Sunny Benjamin John is no longer living. He, often known as S.B John in showbiz circles and among his fans, died on Saturday after a protracted illness. S.B. John was 90 years old.
He leaves behind four sons and a daughter.
Mr. John was born in Karachi in October 1930, according to his son Glenn. He attended St Paul’s School before enrolling at Kalyan Sangeet Vidyala on Burns Road to study music under Pandit Ram Chandra Trivedi. He had gone there to learn tabla, but his master advised him to sing instead. His teacher moved to India with the split of the subcontinent.
When Mr. John joined Radio Pakistan in 1950, he began performing professionally. His grandpa, too, was an amateur vocalist, thus music ran in his family. Mr. John made many appearances on the Karachi stage, but he shot to national fame after singing the song ‘Tu jo nahin hai to kuchh bhi nahin hai’ for the film Savera in 1959.
Despite having other film credits, he is most known for the above-mentioned song which was penned by Fayyaz Hashmi and composed by Master Manzoor Husain. John also performed several ghazals.
“He was a wonderful person and a wonderful friend of his children,” his eldest son Robin John told the media. He did take us fishing and tell us everything about it. Hunting and cooking were two of his favorite pastimes. In terms of cuisine, one of my brothers and I have followed in his footsteps. Like him, his brothers Donald and Glenn entered the world of music.”
In 2011, Mr. John received the President’s Pride of Performance Award.
After Mr. Glenn, who resides in Sweden, comes to Karachi, John is no longer living. He will lay to rest.
Painting pictures with words and showing rather than telling is the underlying principle of my wholehearted artistic writing.