The great singer S P Balasubramanyam has left for heavenly abode, devastating everyone who spent days in prayers with the hopes that he would come back from hospital hearty and healthy.

Though he survived the pandemic Covid, doctors’ intense treatment could not save his life.
He was a miracle who could prove his talent in whatever field he dabbled in
The demise of this artist also known as SPB is a big loss not only to the music field but to the entire art world.
His had enthralled generations in a music career spanning more than 50 years and sang more than 40000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. His name thus entered the Guinness Book of World Records for singing maximum number of film songs.
However, his greatness lies in his romantic voice that tug at the heart strings. It was not the one that faded away at the periphery but it was the one that enchanted the listeners like a never-ending love.

Through his melodious voice he had earned fans and followers all over India and abroad.
SPB was able to shine alike as a singer, music director, dubbing artiste, producer and anchor, only due to his dedication

Born and brought in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore, he was sent to study engineering as that was his father and Harikatha artiste Samba Moorthy’s wish.

But he walked into the world of music. In 1966, he made his debut in playback singing by rendering a song in Telugu film Sree Sree Maryadha Ramanna.
It was his “torchbearer” and mentor S P Kodandapani who composed the song.

Following this, he got offers from Kannada and Tamil. After he sang the song Nilavee va in the MGR film Adimapennu, the people of Tamil Nadu accepted him whole-heartedly. This happened when famous singers T M Soundar Rajan and P B Sreenivasan were at the pinnacle of their careers

SPB-Ilayaraja combination had brought many super hits and for some time the team had virtually conquered the Tamil music world.
SPB’s hit songs in the film Shankarabharanam, brought him national fame.
Despite not having trained in classical music, SPB won the attention of even youngsters for the song Shankara…and won the national award for the song Om Kara nadhanu… in it. Six more times he got the national award. SPB who had also won various state awards, was honoured by the Padmasree and Padmabhooshan.
His first Malayalam film song was for the film Kadalpalam. He started his journey of success also in the Bollywood by singing for the film Ek Duje Keliye.
A singer becomes complete only when his behaviour with his colleagues and public is also good. On that front too SPB was a great human being.
When he celebrated the golden jubilee of his film music career, he did the padapooja (foot washing) of singer K J Yesudas and declared the latter to be his “brother”. And, he passed away at 74, leaving behind left behind a vast ocean of his songs. We pay homage to this legendary unparalleled singer.