Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), commonly known asSPB orBalu, was an Indianplayback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer,dubbing artist, and film producer.[7] He was widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian singers of all time.[11] He predominantly worked inTelugu,Tamil,Kannada,Malayalam, andHindi films and sang in a total of 16 languages.[12]
Balasubrahmanyam developed an interest in music at an early age, studied musical notations and learned music on his own. He enrolled at theJNTU College of Engineering Anantapur with the intention of becoming an engineer. He said that at the time his only dream was to fulfil his father's ambition and become an engineer and get a government job.[33][34]
Balasubrahmanyam continued to pursue music during his engineering studies and won awards at singing competitions. He discontinued his studies early due totyphoid and joined as an associate member of the Institution of Engineers,Chennai.[35][36] In 1964, he won the first prize in a music competition for amateur singers organized by the Madras-based Telugu Cultural Organization.
He was the leader of a light music troupe composed of Anirutta (on the harmonium),Ilaiyaraaja (on guitar and later on harmonium), Baskar (on percussion) andGangai Amaran (on guitar).[37] He was selected as the best singer in a singing competition which was judged byS. P. Kodandapani andGhantasala.[38][39] Often visiting music composers seeking opportunities, his first audition song was "Nilave Ennidam Nerungadhe". It was rendered by veteran playback singerP. B. Sreenivas, who used to write and give him multi-lingual verses inTelugu,Tamil,Hindi,Kannada,Malayalam,Sanskrit,English andUrdu.[40]
Balasubrahmanyam and his wife being congratulated byK. J. Yesudas and his wife
Balasubrahmanyam debuted as a playback singer on 15 December 1966 with the song "Emiyee Vinta Moham" forSri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna, aTelugu film scored by his mentor,S. P. Kodandapani.[34][41][42] The first non-Telugu song that he recorded was inKannada in 1966 for the filmNakkare Ade Swarga, starringT. R. Narasimharaju.[43][44] He recorded his firstTamil song "Athaanodu Ippadi Irundhu Eththanai Naalaachu", a duet withL. R. Eswari under the musical direction ofM. S. Viswanathan for the filmHotel Ramba, which never released. The song "Medante Meda Kaadu" from the filmSukha Dukhalu (1968) composed by Kondandapani brought him recognition in Telugu cinema.[45]
Other early songs he sang were duets with P. Susheela, "Iyarkai Ennum Ilaya Kanni" in the 1969 filmShanti Nilayam, starringGemini Ganesan, and "Aayiram Nilavae Vaa" forM. G. Ramachandran inAdimaippenn.[46] His first song with S. Janaki was "Pournami Nilavil Pani Vizhum Iravil" inKanni Penn. He was then introduced to the Malayalam film industry byG. Devarajan in the filmKadalppalam.[47] As per Balasubrahmanyam, "Ye Divilo Virisina Parijathamo" from the 1973 Telugu filmKannevayasu composed bySatyam gave an amazing turning point to his singing career.[48]
Balasubrahmanyam recorded the most songs on a single day by any singer.[49] He had recorded 21 songs in Kannada for the composerUpendra Kumar in Bangalore from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm on 8 February 1981 and 19 songs in Tamil, 16 songs in Hindi in a day.[50] In his words, "There were days when I used to record 15–20 songs, but only forAnand Milind. And I would take the last flight back to Chennai."[51][52] In the 1970s, he also worked withM. S. Viswanathan in Tamil movies for actors such as M. G. Ramachandran,Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan. He recorded duets withP. Susheela,S. Janaki,Vani Jayaram andL. R. Eswari. Balasubrahmanyam's association withIlaiyaraaja began even before Ilaiyaraaja came to the cine field. In the early days, he used to sing in towns and villages all over south India and Ilaiyaraaja, then an unknown harmonium and guitar player accompanied him in his concerts.[53]
Balasubrahmanyam gained international recognition with the 1980 filmSankarabharanam. The film is considered to be one of the best films ever to emerge from theTelugu film industry.[54] Directed byK. Viswanath, the film's soundtrack was composed byK. V. Mahadevan and led to an increase in the usage ofCarnatic music in Telugu cinema as well as in other languages. Not a classically trained singer, he used a "film music" aesthetic in recording the songs.[55] Balasubrahmanyam received his firstNational Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for his work. His first work in Hindi films was in the following year, inEk Duuje Ke Liye (1981),[56] for which he received anotherNational Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer.[57]
Balasubrahmanyam began to record more songs in Telugu and other South Indian languages, especially forIlaiyaraaja withS. Janaki, the trio considered to be highly successful in theTamil film industry from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The songs were based on classical music, such as inSaagara Sangamam (1983) andRudraveena (1988), for which Ilaiyaraaja and Balasubrahmanyam wonNational Awards forBest Music Director and Best Male Playback Singer respectively.[58] South Indian actorChiranjeevi said that SPB's voice is one of the main reasons for his success.[59]
Balasubrahmanyam andK. S. Chitra performing atCelebrating 50 years of musical journey of S. P. Balasubrahmanyam on 9 December 2016 at Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai
Balasubrahmanyam recorded three songs forA. R. Rahman in the latter's debut filmRoja. He had a long-time association with Rahman right fromRoja. Other popular songs include "July Maadham" fromPudhiya Mugam, which also marked the debut of singerAnupama,[67] "Mannoothu Manthayilae" fromKizhakku Cheemayile which was a folk number and he almost sang all songs in the musical love storyDuet and "Thanga Thaamarai" fromMinsara Kanavu which fetched him, the sixth and latest of hisNational Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer to date.[68][69]
Balasubrahmanyam's association withHamsalekha began after the latter's successful venturePremaloka in Kannada. Balasubrahmanyam sang the most songs for Hamsalekha in Kannada. He received his fourth National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Umandu Ghumandu" from the Kannada filmGanayogi Panchakshari Gavayi (1995), which was aHindustani classical music-based composition by Hamsalekha.[58]
SPB is the only singer having a long spanning career of 54 years having at least two songs to record per day, even in his last days.[71]
In May 2020, SPB crooned a song on humanity titled "Bharath Bhoomi" which was composed byIlaiyaraaja as a tribute to the people such as police, doctors, nurses and janitors who have been significantly working amidCOVID-19 pandemic.[72] The video song was officially unveiled by Ilaiyaraaja through his officialYouTube account on 30 May 2020 in both Tamil and Hindi languages.[73][74]
Balasubrahmanyam was married in 1969 to Savithri and has two children, a daughter Pallavi, and a sonS. P. Charan, also a playback singer and film producer.
Having no formal training, Balasubrahmanyam consideredS. P. Kodandapani, who gave him his first singing offer and mentored him in his early career, to be hisguru. He would reminisce about him throughout his life and would often pay tributes to him.[34][45] He named hisrecording theatre after him. He also named his filmproduction company after him as 'Sri Kodandapani Film Circuits'.[45][85] He also idolisedMohammed Rafi.[86][87]
On 5 August 2020, Balasubrahmanyam tested positive forCOVID-19 during theCOVID-19 pandemic in India and was admitted to MGM Healthcare inChennai.[88] Subsequently, his health deteriorated and he was shifted to theintensive care unit in a critical state. He required a ventilator andextracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. It was reported that his age (74 years) and multiple co-morbidities, such asdiabetes, that worsened his condition.[89][90] Filmmakers and musicians from the Tamil film industry met virtually and live-streamed a mass prayer on August 20, while Telugu and Kannada film industries had the same of their own on different dates. Candlelight vigils were held by fans outside the hospital.[91][92] On 7 September 2020, Balasubrahmanyam tested negative for the coronavirus, although he remained using a ventilator and ECMO. He started showing signs of recovery, including light speech and physical activities.[93] However, the hospital released a statement on 24 September stating that he became "extremely critical" and was on "maximal life support".[94]
Balasubrahmanyam died on 25 September 2020 at 1:04 pm (IST) ofcardio-respiratory arrest after over a month-long hospitalisation.[95] He was buried at his farm house in Thamaraipaakkam,Thiruvallur district with state honours on 26 September 2020.[96]
^"Devotional Songs".The Hindu. 21 June 2015. Retrieved20 February 2022.Mr. Balasubrahmanyam was addressing a function at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam on Saturday after receiving the Harivarasanam Award instituted by the State government.
^"SP.Balasubrahmanyam's 67th Birthday". 4 June 2013. Archived fromthe original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved22 July 2013.Today, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam is celebrating his 67th birthday. He was born on 4 June 1946 into a Telugufamily in Nellore. Balasubrahmanyam started singing from a very young age. After dropping out from an engineering program in JNTU, he got his first break in 1966, when he sang forSri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna and he has sung over 40,000 songs. The State Government of AP presented the Nandi Award to Balasubrahmanyam 25 times. The Government of India honoured him with a Padma Bhushan award in 2011 and also presented him with six National Awards.
^Dinathanthi, Nellai Edition, 11 August 2006, p. 11.
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