Winning Habits

Musician Ricky Kej says he finds it surreal to think of himself as a two-time Grammy winner

- Tatsam Mukherjee

Ricky Kej still remembers the first time he felt the true power of music. “I think I was listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for the first time in high school, and I had tears in my eyes. It wasn’t like I was sad. Just that I was overwhelmed,” he says. Kej just picked up his second Grammy in the ‘Best New Album’ category for his album Divine Tides, which he composed with American musician Stewart Copeland—best known as the drummer of The Police.

Even though he won his first Grammy for the 2015 album, Winds of Samsara (on which Copeland appeared as a guest artist), Kej still finds it surreal to think of himself as a Grammy winner. “I won the first Grammy when I was 33, I’m 40 today. Winds of Samsara was my 16th album. I had done a lot of work before that. Suddenly, this one did really well on the charts and commercially. I think if you told the 32-year-old me that I would win a Grammy, let alone two, I think I would have laughed at you,” says Kej.