Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam, otherwise known as SP Balasubrahmanyam, or SPB, or Balu was one of the most popular playback singers in the Indian movie industry. His other talents in the areas of Television presenting, music direction, acting, dubbing, and movie production also have their benchmarks.
Singing Career:
S. P. Kodandapani was considered SP Balasubrahmanyam's mentor. Balasubrahmanyam made his debut as a playback singer on 15 December 1966 with Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna, which was made by his Guru Kodandapani. He also sang several Kannada songs after which he got to work with popular singers like P. Susheela, S. Janaki, Vani Jayaram, and L. R. Eswari.
SP Balu's career took the highest peak after that. Movies like Shankarabharanam, Sirivennela, Sagara Sangamam, Rudraveena, etc, gave scope for him to explore Carnatic music in the movies as well. He then started receiving huge offers from Bollywood as well.
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam or SPB is identified as a singer who has recorded the highest number of songs, with over 40,000 songs in his career. It wouldn't be an exaggeration if it is told that he is the voice of every household in South India. With his distinctive voice modulations and honey-filled music, Balasubrahmanyam has covered Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam languages in the movies.
Awards and honors:
SP Balasubrahmanyam received Padma Shri (2001), Padma Bhushan (2011), and Padma Vibhushan (Posthumously) (2021) from the Government of India.
SP Balasubrahmanyam's voice is known to suit every other hero, as he is famous for his modulation according to the mood of the song and the actors appearing on the screen. Such a great singer was SPB. Balasubrahmanyam has won 6 National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer for his works in four different languages – Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi.
His achievements also include 25 Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Awards for his work in Telugu cinema. He has 6 FilmFare Awards won in the South as well. NTR National Award, Silver Peacock Medal as Indian Film Personality of the Year(2016) are rare achievements by the singer.
Filmography:
Balasubrahmanyam's appearance in movies like Kadhalan (Premikudu in Telugu), Kadhal Desam(Prema Desam in Telugu), Aaro Pranam, Pavitra Bandham, Mithunam, and many other movies in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada languages.
Death:
On 25 September 2020, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam succumbed to COVID-19, in Chennai after being hospitalized for over a month for complications due to coronavirus. The singing industry and the Indian music industry were shaken after his untimely demise. SP Balasubrahmanyam is still one of the voices every household in South India would forever remember.
