S P Balasubrahmanyam: An archive photo of the singer. (courtesy: ispbofficial)
Strong points
- S P Balasubrahmanyam died on Friday
- It was called the voice of Rajinikanth
- “I will really miss you,” Rajinikanth tweeted
New Delhi:
“You have been my voice for many years … your voice and memories will live with me forever,” Southern superstar Rajinikanth tweeted for the veteran singer. S P Balasubrahmanyam, died Friday. SPB, as the singer was affectionately called, has worked closely with Rajinikanth in the past. He has been called the voice of Rajinikanth and two other actors – Kamal Haasan and Salman Khan. Mourning the legendary singer, Rajinikanth shared a video of himself and recalled their memorable moments in a tweet on Thursday: “#RIP Balu sir … You have been my voice for many years … Your voice and memories will live on. with me forever … I will truly miss you. “
In the clip, Rajinikanth said that “the majestic sweet voice of S P Balasubrahmanyam will ring in our ears for a hundred years”. He added that SPB respects everyone and people love him more than his voice. Rajinikanth also spoke about SPB’s long and prolific singing career and said that it was unique among other singers to have sung in so many languages - S P Balasubrahmanyam has sung over 40,000 songs in 16 languages.
#TEAR Balu sir … you have been my voice for many years … your voice and memories will live with me forever … I will truly miss you … pic.twitter.com/oeHgH6F6i4
– Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) September 25, 2020
The S P Balasubrahmanyam and Rajinikanth binary was a successful hit – it has become a superhit formula that SPB sings at least the title song, if not any other, of the Rajinikanth films – some of them are My name is Billa for the 1980 film Billa, Naan Polladhavan for the 1980 film Polladhavan, Kadavul Padachan in Pokkiri Raja, Rakkamma Kaiyya Thattu for the 1991 film Thalapathi and Ballelakkha for the 2007 film Sivaji: the boss. The duo last collaborated for the 2020 film Darbar, in which SP Balasubrahmanyam sang the song Chumma Kizhi . SPB also sang for Rajinikanth in his 2019 film Petta.
S P Balasubrahmanyam was admitted to MGM Healthcare Hospital in Chennai on August 5 after testing positive for COVID-19. Earlier this month, he tested negative for the virus. However, it was not removed from the fan. His condition worsened on Thursday and died in hospital the next day. S P Balasubrahmanyam is survived by his wife Savitri, his daughter Pallavi and his son S P B Charan, who is a singer and producer.
S P Balasubrahmanyam has won six national awards for his work in the music industry. He has worked extensively with Ilaiyaraaja, A R Rahman and other composers. He was also an actor, producer and voice actor.
