Thrissur: Shan Johnson (29), who was found dead in her apartment in Chennai on Friday, was perhaps the most experienced among the new-generation music composers in Malayalam cinema. She had witnessed, rather listened to, the creation of many a memorable melody by her late father, the legendary Johnson.
As a child, Shan would accompany Johnson to the recording studio on holidays. She would sit through the entire process of the creation of a song.
It was only natural for her to start a band along with a few friends during her college days.
She was working as a marketing professional with a private company in Mysuru when her father died in August 2011. In less than a year, her brother Renn died in a road accident in Chennai. Shan found solace in music.
She was invited to perform in a venue in Bengaluru by celebrated singer K.S. Chitra. Johnson’s former colleagues realised his daughter’s talent and many of them invited her to sing on many occasions. Shan moved back to Chennai. Her mother Rani was also in the city.
She had got an offer to act in a movie but she refused.
She was noted for her performance at a programme held in Thrissur two years ago to pay homage to Johnson. She was thrilled to sing along with her father’s collaborators in his native land.
Johnson could have let his daughter sing one of his scores. Shan had already proved herself as a stage singer, individually and as a member of the band she founded. She had asked him the reason. Johnson told her she was yet to reach the mark he had set for her.
For Johnson, music was a faith which cannot be challenged. Shan was proud of her father’s decision.