Ricky Kej

Ram Gyan "Ricky" Kej (born 5 August 1981) is an Indian music composer, environmentalist, a three-time Grammy Award winner and a four-time Grammy nominee. Kej was conferred with a Padma Shri award India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2025 by the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu for his contributions to the Arts. He has performed at venues including at the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva. In October 2023, Kej was announced as a UN Goodwill Ambassador (UNCCD) at the United Nations General Assembly by then President, Csaba Körösi.He was also awarded the Lokmat Sur Jyotsna National Music Award 2025 for his contribution to Indian music. Kej is the Guinness World Record holder for the world’s largest singing lesson, achieved through the recording of 13,944 tribal children performing the Indian National Anthem. The record-setting initiative was officially recognized by Guinness World Records and stands among the largest mass-participation musical education events involving indigenous children. Kej was also named a UNCCD Land Ambassador at the COP14 to raise public awareness about the challenges of land degradation, desertification and drought. Kej serves as a "High-Profile Supporter" of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNESCO - MGIEP Global Ambassador for Kindness, UNICEF Celebrity Supporter, and is an ambassador for the Earth Day Network. In 2020, Kej was named as a GQ Hero 2020 by GQ India magazine and in 2023, Kej was named as one of GQ India's "Man of the Year". Kej is credited with over 3,500 placements for radio and television jingles. He composed the music for the 2011 Cricket World Cup opening ceremony, held at Dhaka on 17 February 2011. On 18 July 2016, he was awarded the Excellence and Leadership award as a global humanitarian artist at the United Nations Headquarters, New York and performed excerpts from Shanti Samsara live in the United Nations General Assembly Hall. Kej concluded his performance at the United Nations General Assembly by saying, "To end, I want to state the obvious ... Climate change is real ... Climate change is human induced. Climate change is affecting us all ... and our actions affect countries on the other side of the world."