Legendary Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam No More

Much celebrated multi-lingual singer, Gana Gandharva, Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam, is no more. He breathed his last at MGM Hospital in Chennai on Friday. He was 74. He is survived by two brothers and five sisters, including singer S. P. Sailaja, son S. P. Charan also a popular South Indian Singer and Producer, daughter Pallavi and his wife Savithri. He was well on his way to recovery, but suddenly, his condition turned critical.

On 5 August 2020, Balasubrahmanyam tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to MGM Healthcare in Chennai. Subsequently, his health deteriorated and he was shifted to the intensive care unit in a critical state. He required a ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. His son Charan provided updates via social media to fans, while members of the Tamil film industry engaged in a mass prayer via Zoom on 20 August and candle light vigils were held by fans outside the hospital. On 7 September, Balasubrahmanyam tested negative, but remained on life support.

SP, SPB or Balu as he was affectionately called was not just a singer, music director, actor, dubbing artiste and film producer for Telugus. He was much more. His effort to popularis singing through his tele programmes like 'Padutha teeyaga" endeared him to the Telugus more than any.

His concern for Telugu which was losing sheen and glory by the Western influence and by the 'Mummy/daddy' culture that had seeped into Telugu lives made him use every progrmme and fora to emphasize on the importance of preserving all threads of Telugu culture and literature without diluting them. He became a beacon light for the revival of light classical Telugu music with his dedicated efforts. He even sang a song in one of the films he acted saying "Avakaya Manadira, Gongura manadera,.."

Born 4 June 1946 worked predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam. He had recorded over 40,000 songs in 16 Indian languages.[He holds the Guinness World Record for recording the highest number of songs by a singer with over 40,000 songs. He had garnered six National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer for his works in four different languages; Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi; 25 Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Awards for his works towards Telugu cinema, numerous other state awards from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In addition, he garnered the Bollywood Filmfare Award, and six Filmfare Awards South. In 2012, he received the state NTR National Award for his contributions to Indian cinema. In 2016, he was honored with the Indian Film Personality of the Year consisting of a Silver Peacock Medal. He is a recipient of civilian awards such as Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhushan (2011) from the Government of India.

Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and K Chandrasekhar Rao, Leader of opposition in AP N Chandrababu Naidu and host of other leaders expressed their shock and dismay over his death and offered condolences to the family members.