Voice of many, SPB dies
KS Shankar
Legendary playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam passed away at a private hospital in Chennai on Friday. He was 74.
Balasubrahmanyam was hospitalised in August at MGM Healthcare after testing posittive for Coronovirus while he reportedly did well initially, he took a turn for the worse, and was put on a ventilator and ECMO support. Popularly known as SPB, Balasubrahmanyam made his singing debut in 1966 with Telugu movie Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna. He has sung over 40,000 songs in as many as 16 languagesPopularly known as SPB,
Balasubrahmanyam made his singing debut in 1966 with Telugu movie Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna.
He has sung over 40,000 songs in as many as 16 languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi. including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi.Curiously, during his over five decades of playback singing career, SPB has sung several moon songs.
He is survived by wife Savitri, a son S.P. Charan – a movie producer and playback singer, and daughter Pallavi.Honoured with Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards in 2001 and 2011 respectively, SPB has won six National Film Awards for the best male playback singer and several other state awards.
Born to S.P. Sambamurthy, a Harikatha artist and mother Sakunthalamma on June 4, 1946, SPB got interested in music at a young age. His younger sister P. Sailaja was also a movie playback singer.
While pursuing his engineering course, he used to participate in singing competitions and won prizes.
“At one such competition, popular playback singer S. Janaki while giving the prize sowed the seed of singing in movies in me by saying that I can shine in the cine world. She encouraged me saying that she too was not a trained singer,” SPB had reminisced at a media meet.
Later he started visiting music directors seeking an opportunity to become a movie playback singer.
A humble person, SPB had said that if a person achieves something significant in a field, then it is due to the nudges and help rendered by several others. And in his case, there were couple of people.
The six-time National Award-winning Indian singer has sung over 40,000 songs in over 15 languages and has worked predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam. He has won several popular awards and State awards in his long-enduring career. The ‘Thanga Thamarai’ singer began his musical career in 1966 and has worked with music composers ranging from AR Rahman to Vishal-Shekhar. He holds the distinction of having recorded 21 songs in 12 hours with Kannada composer Upendra Kumar.
Balasubrahmanyam made his Bollywood debut in 1981 with Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri starrer Ek Duuje Ke Liye. One of the songs from the film featuring the lead pair Hum Bane Tum Bane became superhit and is still well-known.He was also a prolific supporting actor in the movies and has acted in over 70 films in supporting roles.
He is survived by wife Savitri, a son S.P. Charan – a movie producer and playback singer – and daughter Pallavi.Honoured with Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards in 2001 and 2011 respectively, SPB won six National Film Awards for the best male playback singer and several other state awards.
Born to S.P. Sambamurthy, a Harikatha artist, and Sakunthalamma on June 4, 1946, SPB got interested in music at a young age. His younger sister P. Sailaja was also a movie playback singer.His tale of success began with an award he won in a competition in Chennai in 1964. His ravishingly unique voice sounded fresh and naturally romantic. It captivated and mesmerised listeners and composers. His debut song was in the Telugu film Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna in 1966, though his first Tamil song, with playback singer L.R. Eswari and composed by M.S. Viswanathan, in the same period did not see the light of day because the film was not released. But he had a roaring break in late 60s when two of his songs both with veteran singer P. Susheela — one in Gemini Ganesan starrer Shanthi Nilayam (Iyarkai Ennum) and another in M.G. Ramachandran starrer Adimai Penn (Aayiram Nilavae Vaa), which catapulted him to stardom and fame.While pursuing his engineering course, he used to participate in singing competitions and won prizes.
“At one such competition, popular playback singer S. Janaki while giving the prize sowed the seed of singing in movies in me by saying that I can shine in the cine world. She encouraged me saying that she too was not a trained singer,” SPB had reminisced at a media meet.
Later he started visiting music directors seeking an opportunity to become a movie playback singer.
A humble person, SPB had said that if a person achieves something significant in a field, then it is due to the nudges and help rendered by several others. And in his case, there were couple of people.
