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Many legendary singers have emerged from Punjab, but today’s Punjabi artists are taking over the world stage, making audiences across the globe groove to their beats. One such artist is Karan Aujla. While the Indian-Canadian singer is a sensation today, his journey was far from easy. From losing his parents at the age of nine, to living alone in his house as a child, and later flying to Canada by himself, Karan has faced immense struggles growing up. Perhaps that explains the grit and determination behind his work. Here’s a look at his life story.
During an interaction with Curly Tales, Karan opened up about his early life and how his once full house with parents and two sisters soon turned empty after tragedy struck. He said, “From the age 9 to 14, I went through so much. I lost both my parents and the house which would be full of people was now empty and where people would have dinner together, I was having dinner alone.”
He further recalled, “I lost my father in an accident. That was the first death in my family, after that everything changed. It was in 2006. My sisters took over his job and they tried to run the house but my mom wanted to send them abroad for them to have a good life because in Punjab nothing was happening, they couldn’t land great jobs. So, they got married to great families in Canada and left.”
Karan continued to live with his mother until she was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 2011. “My mom got diagnosed with cancer and in 2011. I lost her too,” he shared.
He added, “I still remember, I had exams in school and while going through all this and just getting ready for school, sitting there in a classroom, I would just stare at the walls, not knowing what teachers are saying, and I started zoning out after that. I couldn’t process things. I was very naughty before, but that’s when I became a quiet child. Friends would say things like ‘Yaar tere mom dad mar gaye.’ I don’t know that I would hear this someday.”
After his sisters left for Canada and his parents passed away, Karan lived in his family home in Punjab for nearly four years. He said, “That’s when I stayed in India for 3-4 years after my sisters had left. From 2011 to 2014, I stayed in my home by myself. My uncle and auntie took care of me and cook food for me, and I’m really thankful for that because otherwise, I had nowhere to go.”
Suppressing his emotions, he turned to writing as an outlet for his grief. “My first song was a sad song in which I wrote that ‘I don’t want to live’, but I realise then that what I’m writing is rhyming, and I started writing copies after copies.”
After spending years in Punjab alone, Karan finally moved to Canada to live with his sisters. Sharing his experience, he said, “I went to Canada alone on the flight. This was my first flight ever, and I had a connecting flight from England, and I didn’t even know what a connecting flight was at that time. But I figured everything out myself. I cried while leaving Punjab and my uncle and aunty.”
Karan’s initial career struggle was marked by exploitation in the industry. He revealed, “I first started writing songs. I didn’t know I could sing my own lyrics. Slowly I started writing songs for many singers, I often didn’t get paid and many didn’t even give me the credit. So, I thought there is no point. I wanted to be on screen and known to people, so I thought I had to sing.”
Singer Jassie Gill played a key role in Karan’s recognition. He recalled, “I started approaching local Punjabi singers, asking them to sing my songs. I was very young, and that’s when I came across Jassi Gill, he was from my area. I sent him recording and he liked my song, and he put that song in that album.”
By the time Gill’s album Replay was released, Karan had already left for Canada. “At that time I wasn’t looking for money, I just wanted them to give me credit for my songs. I used to put my name and my village’s name in the credit.”
After his start with Jassie Gill, Karan worked as a songwriter for several artists including Deep Jandu and Elly Mangat. In 2016, he debuted as a lead artist with Property of Punjab. Soon, tracks like Yaarian Ch Fikk, Unity, Alcohol 2, and Lafaafe made him a household name.
His popularity soared in 2018 with Don’t Worry, his first track to feature on the UK Asian Chart. Later, songs such as Jhanjar, Red Eyes, Kya Baat Aa, and So Far became chartbusters. Most recently, his hit Tauba Tauba, picturised on Vicky Kaushal for the film Bad Newz, also featured Karan himself in the music video.
Karan shared that being famous isn’t easy. He spoke about getting extortion calls and facing life threats. He said, “I have faced threats, extortion calls, being shot at. I have experienced bullet going through my window while sleeping. I have experienced waking up to gun shots and that was not a good experience. I don’t wish that on anybody, even the people I don’t care about. You are a singer and all of a sudden, people are saying ‘mar denge agar itne paise nahin diya toh.’ Then you think, ‘Who am I?'”
Karan shares an emotional connection with Shah Rukh Khan, who also lost his parents at a young age. Despite hardships, SRK rose to become one of the biggest stars in the world. Speaking about him, Karan said, “I have met Shah Rukh Khan. I first met him at IIFA in Abu Dhabi and the way this man treats you… He makes you feel like a king.”
Fans often find unique ways to express their love, but sometimes it crosses limits. Karan recalled one such incident, “I was in London once performing at my concert and somebody threw their shoe on my face. It hit my face, and I thought that the fan is insulting me. ‘Itana kharab ga raha hu mein?’ But the fan said he wants sign on the shoe. It made headlines later that I got hit on face by a shoe.”
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