SP Balasubrahmanyam Dies At 74 In Chennai; His Iconic Voice In Over 40,000 Songs Which Nurtured Millions Of Hearts To Be Cherished Forever

Veteran singer SP Balasubrahmanyam passed away on September 25, 2020. His son SP Charan confirmed the news. The 74-year-old multi-national award-winning singer who has been hospitalised since August 5 after testing positive for COVID-19, died at MGM Health Care hospital in Chennai. He tested negative over a month later but could not be taken off the ventilator. After showing signs of recovery over the last few weeks, SPB’s health deteriorated. Tributes to him poured in on social media soon after Balasubrahmanyam's son S P Charan announced his death. Politicians such as H D Deve Gowda, Shiva Kumar and Khushbu Sundar shared posts, as did Hema Malini. Soundarya Rajinikanth, daughter of Balasubrahmanyam's longtime collaborator Rajinikanth, was among the first to share a tribute, writing "RIP SPB sir.” “Devastated," wrote A R Rahman, for whom S P Balasubrahmanyam had sung several songs. The legendary singer has recorded over 40,000 songs in 16 Indian languages and holds the Guinness World Record for recording the highest number of songs by a singer. He has won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer six times. SPB won the Filmfare Award seven times for his work across many industries, the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards four times, the Government of Andhra Pradesh's Nandi Awards 25 times, and the Karnataka State Film Awards three times. He was also a recipient of the Padma Bhushan (2011) and Padmashri (2001) from the Government of India.