Editor’s note: The original February 2023 version of this article was lost. The Lee Daily Register rebuilt it in October 2026 from the Trinidad reporting cited below, and added what happened afterward. The original version stated that a heart attack caused Bheem’s death and that his family believed so. None of the Trinidad news coverage we reviewed reported an official finding or a family statement saying so, and the claim has been removed. An estimate of his net worth in the original was also unsourced and is not repeated here.
Anil Bheem, the chutney singer and radio presenter known as The Vocalist, died on Saturday morning, Feb. 4, at his home in Curepe, Trinidad. He was 48.
Bheem had performed at two shows on Friday night, one in south Trinidad and one in central Trinidad, and died at home shortly after returning, the Trinidad Guardian reported. The paper was also told that he began to feel unwell after getting home, according to a separate Guardian report. Radio station 103.1FM, where he worked, confirmed his death in a Facebook post that Saturday morning, the Trinidad Express reported.
Has a cause of death been released?
No. The Guardian’s first report on Saturday said only that he had died after performing at two Carnival events, and neither his family nor the authorities stated a cause in any of the coverage we reviewed. The Trinidad Express, citing a close friend, reported that Bheem complained of chest pains around 4 a.m. and that paramedics who were called could not revive him. That is a friend’s account of the circumstances, not a medical or official finding. A neighbor wrote on social media that he had looked perfectly well while performing on Friday, and chutney singer Drupatee Ramgoonai told the Guardian that Bheem never looked sick to her.
Three decades on Trinidad radio
Bheem joined 103.1FM in 1993 as a technical operator and later moved on air, where he hosted the show Catch The Rhythms, according to his official website. The site says he was born on May 14, 1974, the son of singer Prematee Bheem, and that he founded the BMRZ band in 2005, having spent nearly a decade as the male frontline performer of JMC Triveni.
His recordings ranged from chutney soca to devotional songs. The site lists a Best Lyrics prize at the 2013 Chutney Soca Monarch finals for his song “Cyah Go No Way,” and highlights “The Indian Anthem,” a song he produced, mixed and mastered himself.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar called his death “another blow to the local music industry,” the Guardian reported. George Singh, chief executive of Southex Event Management, told the paper that Bheem was scheduled as the opening act at this year’s Chutney Soca Monarch competition and that organizers would very likely dedicate the finals to him.
According to 103.1FM’s Facebook page, as relayed by the Guardian, a funeral was tentatively planned for the NCIC Nagar site in Endeavour, Chaguanas.
What happened next
Thousands of people attended Bheem’s funeral at the Nagar site on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, the Trinidad Guardian reported. Chutney Soca Monarch organizer George Singh was among 10 speakers who paid tribute, his wife, Shazina Cheryl Bheem, delivered the eulogy, and his daughters, Neelam and Pritivi, spoke about their father. His body was cremated on the banks of the Caroni River. Singh said at the service that the 2023 Chutney Soca Monarch finals would be dedicated to Bheem’s memory. The funeral coverage did not report a cause of death.
On Sept. 24, 2025, Republic Day, 103.1FM reported that Bheem was to receive the Hummingbird Gold Medal posthumously for his lifetime achievements in arts and culture, at an awards ceremony at Queen’s Hall that evening. His official website also lists the medal.
As of October 2026, we had found no cause of death published by his family or the authorities.
