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Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam, who lent his mellifluous voice to some 40,000 songs on thousands of Indian film soundtracks, died in Chennai on Friday (September 25) after contracting the coronavirus in August. He was 74 years old.
Balasubrahmanyam was a frequent muse to Oscar, BAFTA, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning composer AR Rahman, for whom she sang in numerous films, including her 1992 debut. Red.
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam, generally known as SPB, was born in Nellore in 1946.
He showed an early aptitude for music and won singing competitions while in school and college.
He studied engineering, but eventually dropped out to dedicate himself to singing full time.
Balasubrahmanyam made his film debut with 1966 Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna, in which he sang a song in the Telugu language.
He worked in the mainstream Hindi language of Bollywood and the thriving regional film scene in India, and then sang in all major languages including Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, English, and Malayalam.
Besides Rahman, Balasubrahmanyam worked with almost all the major Indian composers, including Ilaiyaraaja, Rahul Dev Burman, Hamsalekha, MM Keeravani, and MS Viswanathan.
He had been the singing voice on screen for several prominent Indian actors, including Salman Khan, Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan, Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna.
He won the singer award at the Indian National Film Awards six times, for 1979 Sankarabharanam, From 1981 Ek Duuje Ke Liye, 1983 Saagara sangamam, From 1988 Rudraveena, From 1995 Sangeetha Sagara Ganayogi Panchakshara Gavai and from 1996 Minsaara kanavu.
He has also been awarded some of the highest civil honors in India, including the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2011.
In 2016, he was anointed Indian Film Personality of the Year at the India International Film Festival.
Balasubrahmanyam also had an acting career and appeared in almost 50 films. Memorable roles include in Mithunam, Thiruda Thiruda, Kanmani is coming Y Kadhalan.
He is survived by his wife, Savitri; daughter Pallavi and son Charan. – Reuters
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