Veteran singer SP Balasubrahmanyam breathed his last today at the age of 74. The celebrated singer was admitted to Chennai’s MGM Healthcare Hospital since August 5, after testing positive for COVID-19. The singer tested negative for the novel and deadly Coronavirus on September 8 but could not be taken off the ventilator because of the condition of his lungs.
His son SP Charan had been sharing updates about the health of the singer while he was being treated at the hospital. Balasubrahmanyam had intimated his fans about testing positive for COVID-19 in a video posted on his official Facebook account.
Unfortunately, the acclaimed singer's health deteriorated in the last 24 hours and he passed away a few minutes ago, today. He suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest. An official statement was released by the hospital this afternoon.
Balasubrahmanyam sung several hit Bollywood songs and was the popular choice for playback for Salman Khan and Kamal Haasan. He was awarded six National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer for his works in four different languages- Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi; 25 Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Awards for his works towards Telugu cinema, numerous other state awards from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
He was also awarded the civilian awards such as Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhushan (2011) from the Government of India.
The legendary singer is survived by his wife Savithri and two children — daughter Pallavi and son SP Charan.