Photo: Rolling Stone India
Josh Brar's earliest memory of music isn't a lesson or a performance — it's standing quietly in a recording studio, watching his father dub vocals with no idea he was looking at his own future. "I didn't fully understand everything back then," he's said of those sessions, "but just watching him dub vocals, seeing the process — it felt magical." His father was Raj Brar, a mainstay of Punjabi music, singer, actor, lyricist and music director best known for his 2008 album "Rebirth." Raj Brar died on December 31, 2016, at 44.
Eight years later, Josh Brar's debut single as an artist in his own right was a direct, deliberate tribute to that same father: "Tere Bina Na Guzara E." It's since crossed 180 million streams on Spotify alone. Rolling Stone India's headline for his individual profile put it about as plainly as it can be put: he found his voice in the silence his father left behind.
Key takeaways
- Josh Brar is the son of late Punjabi music mainstay Raj Brar (1972-2016), and grew up watching his father record in studios as a child before pursuing sports seriously himself
- His 2024 debut single, "Tere Bina Na Guzara E" — a tribute to his father, featuring Pakistani actress Kinza Hashmi — has crossed 181 million streams on Spotify alone, as of September 2026 data from kworb.net
- He opened for AP Dhillon on the Brownprint India Tour in December 2024, performing in front of a crowd of over 20,000 at Delhi's IG Stadium in his live debut
- He crossed into Bollywood in 2025 with "Guzaara," a track for the Tiger Shroff film "Baaghi 4," built from lyrics he'd never released before
- He was named to Rolling Stone India's Future 25 in 2025, and has spoken about wanting India's musical future to be "a space where boundaries between genres continue to blur"
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The Starting Point: A Studio Kid Who Didn't Know He Was One Yet
Josh Brar's childhood put him inside working music studios well before he had any plan to become an artist himself — tagging along with his father, watching a process he's since described as feeling "magical" without fully understanding what he was seeing. He picked up tabla, guitar, and piano along the way, and joined his school choir, eventually covering songs by Gurdas Maan and Diljit Dosanjh.
Music, though, wasn't his first serious pursuit. He pursued sports competitively as a teenager, and it was only after losing access to his training facility that music filled the space that had opened up. He's described that transition in terms that treat music less as a replacement hobby than a continuation of the same discipline: "It gave me the same sense of purpose and stillness that sports once did."
His father, Raj Brar, died in December 2016, when Josh was still young — a loss that sits underneath everything about how his music career eventually began, even though he didn't step into the spotlight himself for another eight years.
Tere Bina Na Guzara E: A Debut Built as a Tribute
When Josh Brar finally released his own debut single in 2024, it wasn't built around introducing a new sound or chasing a trend — it was built as a direct tribute to his father. "Tere Bina Na Guzara E," produced by Bunty Bains with music by Agaazz and lyrics by Jagdeep Warring, featured Pakistani actress Kinza Hashmi in its music video and topped streaming charts across India, Pakistan, and Canada.
Brar has been candid that he wasn't prepared for the scale of the response. "It just took off," he's said. "People weren't just listening — they were messaging me, sending blessings." That reaction — direct, personal messages rather than just streaming numbers — fits a song built around grief and memory rather than a generic romantic single, and it set the emotional register for the rest of his catalogue.
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Opening for AP Dhillon in Front of 20,000 People
Josh Brar's live performing career began at a scale most debut artists never reach: opening for AP Dhillon on the Brownprint India Tour in December 2024, at Delhi's IG Stadium, in front of a crowd of over 20,000. He's been honest about how uncertain that moment felt going in: "I was anxious," he's said. "I didn't know if the crowd would listen." They did — audience members reportedly sang his own lyrics back to him, a rare validation for a performer whose only prior public exposure had been a single streaming hit rather than a built-up touring history.
Photo: Punjabi Front
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Josh Brar, on his songwriting process: "I don't force myself to write a certain way. I just let it flow." (Rolling Stone India, Future of Music 2025)
Crossing Into Bollywood With Baaghi 4
In 2025, Brar's catalogue expanded into Hindi-language film music with "Guzaara," a track for the Tiger Shroff and Harnaaz Sandhu film "Baaghi 4," produced by Sajid Nadiadwala's banner via T-Series. Notably, the song was built from lyrics Brar had been sitting on privately rather than material written to spec for the film. "From my heart to yours, words I've never shared before," he's said of the track. "When Sajid Nadiadwala Sir and Bhushan Sir heard these unreleased lyrics, they really wanted them to be in Baaghi 4. Truly grateful to them for trusting me with this."
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Building a Catalogue, Not Chasing a Repeat
Rather than trying to replicate "Tere Bina Na Guzara E," Brar's catalogue since has moved across a genuinely wide range — "Kujh Baatan" (April 2024), the Baaghi 4 crossover, and a five-track EP, "Superstar," released in March 2026 with longtime collaborators Bunty Bains and Agaazz, including the track "Rawalpindi." He's described his ambitions for where Indian music is headed in terms that match that range rather than a narrower Punjabi-specific lane: he envisions "the future of music in India as a space where boundaries between genres continue to blur," citing an interest that spans qawwali, ghazal, house, and drum and bass alongside his Punjabi foundation.
What Other Artists Carrying a Family Legacy Can Take From Josh Brar's Approach
A tribute can be a stronger debut than a strategic first single. "Tere Bina Na Guzara E" wasn't built to maximize commercial odds — it was built around his father's memory, and it became his biggest hit anyway.
Skip the small stages if the right opportunity arrives first. Opening for AP Dhillon in front of 20,000 people was Brar's actual live debut — proof that a strong enough catalogue can make the usual small-venue ladder unnecessary.
Sit on your most personal material until the right home finds it. The lyrics behind "Guzaara" existed before "Baaghi 4" ever did — Brar didn't write to a brief, he let a major production come to him.
Carrying a legacy doesn't mean repeating it. Brar's catalogue moves well beyond the traditional Punjabi mainstay lane his father worked in, toward qawwali, ghazal, and electronic influences — proof that honoring a legacy and building past it aren't in conflict.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Josh Brar?
Josh Brar is a Punjabi music artist and the son of late Punjabi mainstay Raj Brar (1972-2016). He debuted in 2024 with "Tere Bina Na Guzara E," a tribute to his father that has crossed 181 million Spotify streams, and was named to Rolling Stone India's Future 25 in 2025.
What is "Tere Bina Na Guzara E" about?
Released in 2024, "Tere Bina Na Guzara E" is Josh Brar's debut single and a direct tribute to his late father, Raj Brar. Produced by Bunty Bains with music by Agaazz, it features Pakistani actress Kinza Hashmi in its music video and topped streaming charts in India, Pakistan, and Canada.
Who was Josh Brar's father?
Raj Brar (1972-2016) was a mainstay of Punjabi music — a singer, actor, lyricist, and music director best known for his 2008 album "Rebirth," featuring music by Yo Yo Honey Singh. He died in December 2016.
Has Josh Brar worked on any Bollywood films?
Yes. In 2025, he contributed "Guzaara" to the Tiger Shroff and Harnaaz Sandhu film "Baaghi 4," built from previously unreleased personal lyrics rather than material written specifically for the film.
What was Josh Brar's live performing debut?
He opened for AP Dhillon on the Brownprint India Tour in December 2024, performing in front of a crowd of over 20,000 at Delhi's IG Stadium — a large-scale live debut for an artist who, at that point, had released only a handful of singles.
Josh Brar's career doesn't read like a son inheriting a stage his father built for him — it reads like someone who spent years quietly absorbing a craft before ever stepping forward, and then built his entry into it around the person he'd absorbed it from. "Tere Bina Na Guzara E" means, roughly, "I can't go on without you." Judging by the 181 million streams and counting, that feeling translated well past the one relationship it was actually about.
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