Legendary singer SPB ( S.P. Balasubrahmanyam ) passed away at a private hospital in Chennai on Friday. He was 74. His son, confirmed to his fans and admirers, by stating, “My dad passed away at 1.04 pm”
SPB as he is known has sung songs in 16 languages including Tamil, Telugu Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, he also played significant roles in many films.
SPB’s son SP Charan told reporters at MGM Healthcare in Chennai,
SPB belongs to everyone. He will live on in his songs. says his son
‘Paadum Nila’ (Singing Moon) as he was called by his fans had a lilting voice with the finest traces of great singers. “His was a breeze-like voice of A.M Raja, with the softness of the P.B. Srinivas and the effortlessness of Mohamed Rafi,” said film music historian Vamanan.
His voice effortlessly captured varied human emotions and feelings. In one scene he would sing a spoof — 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 acted in films such as Manathil Uruthi Vendum, Keladi Kanmani and Sikaram, besides scoring music for some films
A statement from the hospital read, “Thiru S P Balasubrahmanyam had been admitted at MGM Healthcare on August 5th and commenced on life support measures since August 14th for severe COVID-19 pneumonia. He continued to be closely monitored by our multidisciplinary team in the critical care unit. He tested negative for COVID-19 on September 4th.
In a further setback this morning, despite maximal life support measures and the best efforts of the clinical team, his condition deteriorated further and he suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest. With profound grief, we regret to inform that he has passed away on September 25th at 13:04 Hours. We express our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, well-wishers and admirers at their loss during this time of anguish and sorrow.”
Shripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (SPB) was revered by fans across age groups for his unparalleled contribution to Indian music. He held a Guinness World record for singing over 40,000 songs.
In a career spanning over five decades, SPB won six National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and 25 Nandi Awards. The Government of India honoured the singer-actor with Padma Shri in 2001 Padma Bhushan in 2011.
Balasubrahmanyam was hospitalised in August at MGM Healthcare after testing positive for COVID-19, and while he reportedly did well initially, he took a turn for the worse, and was put on a ventilator and ECMO support.
On September 4, he tested negative for COVID-19 but continued to be on the ventilator and ECMO even as he participated in passive physiotherapy.