Late Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam Honoured With Padma Vibhushan

SP Balasubrahmanyam passed away in September 2020.

SP Balasubrahmanyam singing at a concert.

(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest)

Late singer SP Balasubrahmanyam has been posthumously honoured with the Padma Vibhushan by the President of India, Ramnath Kovind on Monday. The Padma Vibhushan is the second-hightest civilian award in the country.

The singer died in September 2020 due to complications from COVID-19. He was admitted at the MGM Health Care hospital in Chennai at the time of his death. He was 74.

The singer had previously been conferred with the Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhushan (2011).

Most of India came to know of SP Balasubrahmanyam after he sang for actor Kamal Haasan in the 1981 hit Ek Duuje Ke Liye. The Hindi film revolved around two lovers battling cultural differences and parental opposition (Kamal played a Tamilian in love with a north Indian girl played by Rati Agnihotri) and was a tragedy that went to become a blockbuster.

SP Balasubrahmanyam was multilingual and received 6 National Awards for Best Playback Singer for his songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi in the course of his lifetime.

It’s no surprise that he also holds the Guinness World Record for recording the highest number of songs by a singer, reportedly over 40,000 songs!

Other recipients of Padma Vibhushan include former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, sand artist Sudarshan Sahoo and archaeologist BB Lal.