SP Balasubrahmanyam conferred with Padma Vibhushan posthumously; KS Chithra honoured with Padma Bhushan

Singer-actor, SP Balasubrahmanyam was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan posthumously on Monday. Balasubrahmanyam was conferred Padma Shri Award in 2001 and Padma Bhushan in 2011. So, Padma Vibhushan came to SPB after 10 years of Padma Bhushan. He was not only a great singer but also an actor, music director, dubbing artist and film producer. He was honoured with the National Award six times for Best Male Playback Singer and 25 Nandi Awards.

Playback singer, KS Chithra was awarded the Padma Bhushan for her contribution to Indian film music. In 2005, she won the Padma Shri. KS Chithra and SP Balasubrahmanyam collaborated together for many songs in multiple languages. She had crooned more than 25,000 tracks in several languages including, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Bengali, Tulu and others. She has also lent her voice in foreign languages like Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese, Malay, English and French. She had also been awarded the National Award six times.

Ahead of the country’s 72nd Republic Day, the Indian government announced the Padma Awards 2021. 117 others along with Chithra and SP Balasubrahmanyam won the country’s highest civilian honours for their contributions in fields such as art, social work, sports, medicine, literature, science and engineering. There are 7 Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards. Padma awards are conferred by the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhawan in March/ April every year.

SP Balasubrahmanyam passed away on September 25, 2020. He tested positive of Covid-19 and succumbed to death due to cardio-respiratory arrest. He was a known singer not only in the South movie industry but he was popular in the Hindi film industry as well. He crooned songs in 16 languages.

Also Read: Sivamani on SP Balasubrahmanyam’s death: It’s a big shock and loss but his voice and music are with us