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Legendary reading singer SP Balasubrahmanyam died on Friday in a private hospital in Chennai He was 74 years old

Balasubrahmanyam was hospitalized in August at MGM Healthcare after testing positive for COVID-19, and although he apparently behaved well initially, he worsened and was put on a ventilator and ECMO

On September 4, he tested negative for COVID-19 but continued to be on a ventilator and ECMO even while participating in passive physiotherapy

« In another setback this morning, despite maximum life support measures and the best efforts of the clinical team, his condition deteriorated further and he suffered cardiopulmonary arrest With deep sorrow, we regret to inform you that he passed away on September 25 at the age of 134 a.m., MGM Healthcare said in a press release

Popularly known as SPB, Balasubrahmanyam made his singing debut in 1966 with the telugu film Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna He sang over 40,000 songs in 16 languages ​​including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam , Kannada and Hindi

Balasubrahmanyam was also a voice actor He was actor Kamal Hassan’s voice actor whenever his Tamil films were dubbed into Telugu Balasubrahmanyam also starred in a few films

He is survived by his wife, son and daughter – both are book singers

Balasubrahmanyam has sung thousands of songs in South Indian languages ​​and Hindi for five decades for generations of actors – from MGR, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan, to the stars of the present – and has won six national awards He had also captured the hearts of several fans around the world for whom his songs marked milestones

‘Paadum Nila’ (Singing Moon) as his fans called him had a melancholy voice with the most beautiful traces of great singers “His voice was like a breeze of AM Raja, with the sweetness of PB Srinivas and the simplicity of Mohamed Rafi, ”said film music historian Vamanan

His voice effortlessly captured various human emotions and feelings In one scene he would sing a parody – Annatha adurar othiko a laugh in his voice – and in another scene he would powerfully express the anguished mind by rendering – Unna nenachan paatu padichen thangame as seen in Apoorva Sagodharargal He had starred in films such as Manathil Uruthi Vendum, Keladi Kanmani and Sikaram, besides scoring music for some films

Extremely friendly and awesome man who enjoyed his moments with interviewers, SPB once said he loved life and never wanted to die. Others in the industry had only the best words for him, considering him a friend and a guide

SPB won his first national award for Sankarabharanam, even though all the songs in the Telugu movie are based on pure Carnatic ragas He was never formally trained in Carnatic music, but that didn’t stop him, neither then, nor ever « Even SPB had apprehensions at the idea of ​​assuming this mission because he did not have adequate training in classical music It was TK Pugazhlendi, the assistant of the musical director KV Mahadevan who persuaded SPB to make the songs, ”said M Vamanan And what a success they turned out to be

The second time he won the award was for his first Hindi song, Tere Mere Beech Mein in the movie Ek Duuje Ke Liye Two more awards came to him for the movies Telugu Sagarasangamam and Rudraveena Sangeetha Sagara Ganayogi Panchakshara Gavai, the film Kannada won him the fifth national prize

The price of Tamil films has eluded him for many years even though his collaboration with musical directors Ilayaraja and MS Viswanathan had resulted in countless memorable duets, solos, folk songs, parodies and songs with classic touches He l ‘ ultimately won for the song Thanga Thamarai in the movie Minsara Kanavu for which the music was written by AR Rahman

In an interview, SPB said that Tamil movies offer a lot of scenes and staves in which a song sits perfectly, without any artifice

Born Sripathi Paditha Arathyula Balasubramaniam in 1946 from Sambamurthy, exhibiting Harikatha based in Nellore, SPB’s ambition was to become an engineer His inability to clarify a subject in his PUC course forced him to take the FRIEND course now disappeared in Chennai But the music in his blood drew him to singing competitions, and finally to the world of cinema

His talent was spotted by fellow singer and music director SP Kothandapani, who sat among the audience at a competition at the Andhra Social and Cultural Society (ASCA) and he gave him the opportunity to sing in the Telugu film Sri Sri Mariatha Ramanna SPB was one of the four singers – SP Kothandapani, P Susheela, PB Srinivas and Eelapada Raguramaiha – who made the song ragamalika, Emi Evindha Mogum

« Anyone who had listened to the part he rendered for Shoban Babu would have realized the potential of the voice. It turned out to be the prelude to a record-breaking career in film music, » said M Vamanan As they say, the rest was history

Looking back, even as he had secured a foothold in the Telugu industry, a break in the Tamil film industry proved elusive until an introduction to music director MS Viswanthan (MSV) through his friend Bharani SPB chose to make Nilava Ennidam Nerungathy before MSV, who liked the voice but had reservations about his Tamil pronunciation It was actually a chance meeting with MSV which opened the doors to music Tamil movie SPB came like a cool breeze with Iyarkai Ennum Ilayakanni, for the movie Santhi Nilayam

“Although the song was recorded first, another song, Aayiram Nilave Vaa in MGR star Adimaipen, first reached audiences – the film was released earlier in 1969,” M Vamanan

Both songs became an overnight hit SPB would gratefully acknowledge the opportunity given to it by MGR and Music Director KV Mahadevan who introduced it to the future Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

SPB broke down from malaria after rehearsal But MGR waited until he recovered « MGR told me he didn’t want to disappoint me He felt that I would have informed my friends and that if I didn’t ‘had not had the opportunity, my friends would not think well of my capacity as a singer, « SPB once said

Later in the movie Suryakanthi, he sang the number Naan Endral Avalum Naanum and the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa rendered the English verses His reading songs for the Sivaji Ganesan theater, especially Pootuvaitha Mugamo in Sumathi En Sundari and Emuna Nadhi Inkey in Gowravam were also popular

Even though there is the argument that MGR had tied up in SPB due to his difference of opinion with TM Soundararajan (TMS), M Vamanan said MGR continued to prefer TMS to render duets and songs with political messages MGR also gave opportunities to KJ Jesudas and Jayachandran

SPB sang Aval Oru Navarasa Natakam in the movie Ulagam Suttrum Vaaliban and Paadum Pothu Naan Thendral Kattru and Angey Varuvathu Yaro in the movie Netru Indru Naalai MSV continued to use SPB in all actor movies

Even though he worked with other music directors like V Kumar, Vijaybaskar and Shyam, the graph of SPB’s career rose with the arrival of Ilayaraja and actors such as Rajinikant and Kamal. Haasan

Even with Ilayaraja this did not happen immediately SPB could not get an opportunity in Annakili, Patrakalai, Kavikuyil, Durgadevi, Deepam and Thunai Iruppal Meenakshi Once the combination started, it was proved unstoppable Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri gave him two exceptional songs – Raja Enbar Mandhiri Enbar and Vizhiyile Malarnthathu The duets he made with S Janaki were irreplaceable

At a time when Ilayaraja started to dominate film music, MSV’s music for Ninaithale Inikkum shifted and almost all of the songs were rendered by SPB in the film Later when MSV and Ilayaraja got together to score music for Mella Thiranthathu Kathavu, SPB was their natural choice

Actor Mohan has benefited immensely from Ilayaraja’s music and SPB’s voice Almost every song in his films has turned out to be very numerous His voice remained eternally young and he captivated his fans by appearing on stage with light music troupes

He and Ilayaraja had a small argument after the music director prevented him from performing the songs he composed on stage, based on copyright claims The two patched up later, during a ‘a public event

SPB was MSV’s favorite singer and still cherished the song Ilakkanam Marudho in the movie Nizhal Nijamahirathu

When MSV composed the music for Krishna Ganangal written by Kannadasan, SPB sang the song, lullaby Ayarpadi Maligaiyil Thaimadiyil Kantrinaipol Mayakannan Thoongukiran And now, SPB himself will be asleep forever, his voice playing the same lullaby as she has been playing in several homes for decades

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SP Balasubramaniam, SPB