1. Ram Gyan "Ricky" Kej was born on 5 August 1981 and is an Indian music composer, environmentalist, a three-time Grammy Award winner and a four-time Grammy nominee.
44 Facts About Ricky Kej
1. 2.
Ricky Kej has performed at venues in over 35 countries including at the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva.
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In October 2023, Ricky Kej was announced as a UN "Goodwill Ambassador" at the United Nations General Assembly by then President, Csaba Korosi.
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Ricky Kej was named a UNCCD Land Ambassador at the COP14 to raise public awareness about the challenges of land degradation, desertification and drought.
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Ricky Kej serves as a "High-Profile Supporter" of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNESCO - MGIEP "Global Ambassador for Kindness", UNICEF Celebrity Supporter, and is an ambassador for the Earth Day Network.
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In 2020, Ricky Kej was named as a GQ Hero 2020 by GQ magazine and in 2023, Ricky Kej was declared as GQ "Man of the Year".
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In 2023, Ricky Kej won his third Grammy for his album "Divine Tides" at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in the Best Immersive Audio Album category, which took place in Los Angeles in February.
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Ricky Kej performed keyboards on the 2016 Grammy-winning album Grace, produced and composed a song on the 2016 Grammy-nominated album Love Language and arranged and performed keyboards on the 2015 Grammy-nominated album Ayahuasca Dreams.
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Ricky Kej is credited with over 3,500 placements for radio and television jingles.
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Ricky Kej composed the music for the 2011 Cricket World Cup opening ceremony, held at Dhaka on 17 February 2011.
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In 2018, Ricky Kej was named in the "Real Leaders 100 List".
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In May 2018, Ricky Kej was honoured by the House of Commons of Canada for "Outstanding Musical and Humanitarian Achievement".
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Ricky Kej is notably a professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies.
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Ricky Kej was awarded Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2025.
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Ricky Kej was born in North Carolina on 5 August 1981.
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Half Punjabi and Marwari by birth, Ricky Kej grew up in North Carolina and moved to Bangalore, India when he was eight years old and has lived there since.
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Ricky Kej completed his schooling at the Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore and subsequently dentistry from the Oxford Dental College in Bangalore.
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Ricky Kej did not pursue a career in the field and opted for a career in music instead.
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Ricky Kej holds two Doctorate Degrees from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Bubaneshwar and from Gitam University in Visakhapatnam, India.
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Ricky Kej has revealed that his decision to follow a career in music was not an easy one for his parents to accept.
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Ricky Kej started off his career as the keyboardist of Bengaluru-based progressive rock band Angel Dust.
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Ricky Kej eventually went on to create music for over 3,000 ad jingles and Kannada films.
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Ricky Kej has cited Pakistani qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and British vocalist Peter Gabriel as inspirations to constantly challenge and push his own musical boundaries.
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Ricky Kej is a self-taught musician but studied classical music at around the age of 24 to overcome what he observed as a handicap at the time.
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Ricky Kej had released 17 studio albums by 2013, most of which were released in the US but not in his home country of India.
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Ricky Kej has noted that this was on account of the poor music-buying culture in India and the dominant presence of the Hindi film music industry in the country.
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Ricky Kej produced a benefit album, 2 Unite All, with Peter Gabriel aimed at urgent humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.
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Ricky Kej dedicated the award to non-film music composers in India.
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The album was one of several projects discussed during a meeting Prime Minister Modi had with Ricky Kej following his Grammy win.
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Ricky Kej found inspiration in Modi's concern for the environment and set out to specifically develop a project to express a message of environmental consciousness.
31.
On 23 December 2015, Ricky Kej was invited to perform a song from Shanti Samsara in a special arrangement featuring over a hundred students from the Bishop Cotton Boys' School in a special performance for India's President Pranab Mukherjee.
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In 2018, Ricky Kej released My Earth Songs, music for children on the environment and sustainability.
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Notably, Ricky Kej has released these songs in the public domain for completely non-commercial purposes.
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Ricky Kej has teamed up with Macmillan Publishers to feature these songs in English language school textbooks from 2019.
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Ricky Kej has partnered with UNICEF to spread these songs to children across the world and is working on translating them to several different Indian and global languages.
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In June 2021, Ricky Kej released Divine Tides in collaboration with Stewart Copeland who is the founder of The Police.
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Ricky Kej went on to win his third Grammy Award in February 2023 at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for Divine Tides under the Best Immersive Audio Album category.
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In 2008 Ricky Kej received an advertising award at the One Show Awards, followed by a second advertising award at the Adfest Asia Awards in 2009.
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Ricky Kej was dubbed an "India Rules Artist" by TV channel VH1 in 2013.
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Ricky Kej has appeared as a guest judge on many singing reality shows in India.
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Ricky Kej is a trustee and founding member of the Majolly Music Trust.
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In 2020, Ricky Kej collaborated with UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development to release the song "Shine Your Light".
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In 2022, on India's 75th Independence Day, Ricky Kej brought together 12 refugees from 4 nationalities to record a rendition of India's national anthem as a tribute to India.
44.
At the Asia Initiatives Gala in September 2022, Ricky Kej was awarded with the prestigious "Ban Ki-Moon Award" by former Secretary General of United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon for this advocacy work.