KUALA LUMPUR: Veteran crooner Datuk Dahlan Zainuddin died at 9.48pm on Tuesday at the Selayang Hospital here, three days after suffering a stroke. He was 78.
Dahlan's wife, Datin Effa Rizan, said he did not regain consciousness since being admitted to the emergency ward of the hospital at around 7pm last Saturday.
“He overcame his first stroke, which happened in 2016… and for the last three years his health had steadily improved.
“Alas, he fell unconscious in our living room shortly before buka puasa time (on Saturday),” she said.
Effa added that Dahlan was in good spirits shortly before falling "silent and still" on his chair.
"He was his usual, chatty self when he suddenly became unconscious. I thought he had fallen asleep and tried to wake him up," she said.
Effa and their children, Natasha Idha, 40, Mohd Danial, 35 and Athinia Ines, 24, were at his bedside when he breathed his last at the hospital.
Doctors had told the family that Dahlan’s stroke had affected the right side of his body.
His first stroke on June 29, 2016 affected the left side of his body. It occurred shortly after an Iftar event with children from an orphanage in Kangar, Perlis. Dahlan spent seven months at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital following the episode.
Dahlan's remains will be brought to the Bangsar Mosque and he will be buried at the Bukit Kiara Muslim Cemetery after the Zohor prayer on Wednesday, May 29.
The veteran singer, who once worked at the New Straits Times, first found fame by winning Best Performance at Bintang RTM 1975.
Among the highlights of his career was being the first Malaysian artiste to have a major concert at Stadium Negara in 1978.
Dahlan's best-known songs include Kisah Seorang Biduan and Joget Kaki Lima.