New Delhi, Oct. 3 -- One February night in 2023, Zubeen Garg stood before a crowd of thousands and declared that he would not sing. "Some days you feel like singing. On others, you don't," Garg said in his signature drawl. "Today I don't."

The crowd in the eastern Assam town of Sivasagar erupted in protest. Fans had come from near and far, waiting for hours in the cold to watch him perform. But Garg had already walked off the stage and driven off into the night.

For a few days, the episode-among a long line of Garg's antics on stage, including sleeping and singing, drinking while singing, climbing up an electric pole midperformance-drew ire. Some threatened to not allow him back into Sivasagar. But less than two months later, Garg was b...