Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian singers of all time. He predominantly worked in Tamil ,Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films and sang in a total of 16 languages.
Balasubrahmanyam debuted as a playback singer on 15 December 1966 with a Telugu film Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna scored by his mentor, S. P. Kodandapani. In career spanning over five decades, he has won six National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer for his works in four different languages – Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi; 25 Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Awards for his work in Telugu cinema; and numerous other state awards from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments. In addition, he won six Filmfare Awards South and a Filmfare Award. According to some sources, he held the Guinness World Record for recording the highest number of songs by a singer with over 50,000 songs in 16 languages. On 8 February 1981, he created a record by recording 27 songs in Kannada from 9 am to 9 pm. In addition, he recorded 19 songs in Tamil, and 16 songs in Hindi in a day, which has also been called a record.
In 2012, Balasubrahmanyam received the NTR National Award from Government of Andhra Pradesh. In 2015, he received the Harivarasanam Award from the Government of Kerala. In 2016, he was honoured with the Indian Film Personality of the Year award at the 47th International Film Festival of India. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri (2001), Padma Bhushan (2011), and Padma Vibhushan (posthumously) (2021) from the Government of India. On 25 September 2020, Balasubrahmanyam died in Chennai after being hospitalized for over a month for complications due to COVID-19.
Early life and background
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam was born in Nellore, in present-day Andhra Pradesh into a Telugu Brahmin family. His father, S. P. Sambamurthy, was a Harikatha artist who also acted in plays. His mother was Sakunthalamma, who died on 4 February 2019. He had two brothers and five sisters, including singer S. P. Sailaja. His son S. P. Charan is also a popular South Indian singer, actor and producer.
Balasubrahmanyam developed an interest in music at an early age, studied musical notations and learned music out of his own interest. He enrolled at the JNTU College of Engineering Anantapur with the intention of becoming an engineer. He often said that, at the time his only dream was to fulfil his father's ambition and become an engineer and get a government job.
Balasubrahmanyam continued to pursue music during his engineering studies and won awards at singing competitions. He discontinued his studies early due to typhoid and joined as an associate member of the Institution of Engineers, Chennai. 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) and Gangai Amaran (on guitar). He was selected as the best singer in a singing competition which was judged by S. P. Kodandapani and Ghantasala. Often visiting music composers seeking opportunities, his first audition song was "Nilave Ennidam Nerungadhe". It was rendered by veteran playback singer P. B. Sreenivas, who used to write and give him multi-lingual verses in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, English and Urdu.
Music career
1960s–1970s
Balasubrahmanyam debuted as a playback singer on 15 December 1966 with the song 'Emiyee Vinta Moham' for Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna, a Telugu film scored by his mentor, S. P. Kodandapani. The first non-Telugu song that he recorded just eight days after his debut Telugu song was in Kannada in 1966 for the film Nakkare Ade Swarga, starring Kannada comedy stalwart T. R. Narasimharaju. He recorded his first Tamil song "Athaanodu Ippadi Irundhu Eththanai Naalaachu", a duet with L. R. Eswari under the musical direction of M. S. Viswanathan for the film Hotel Ramba, which never released. The song "Medante Meda Kaadu" from the film Sukha Dukhalu (1968) composed by Kondandapani brought him recognition in Telugu cinema.