Chennai: Veteran and legendary playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam has passed away on Friday at 1.04 pm after a long battle against COVID-19 in MGM Healthcare in Chennai. He was 74.
SP Balasubrahmanyam was diagnosed with the disease last month and he was moved to the intensive care unit as his oxygen saturation level dropped. He had been on life support since then. However, later he had tested negative for coronavirus.
Balasubrahmanyam underwent plasma therapy and physiotherapy at a later stage when his condition seemed to be improving.
He is survived by wife Savithri and two children, Pallavi and son S.P.B. Charan who is also a playback singer.
Also referred as SPB, he has recorded over 40,000 songs in 16 Indian languages and holds the Guinnes World Record for recording the highest number of songs by a singer.
He is a recipient of civilian awards such as Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhushan (2011) from the Government of India.