Gulte Tribute: Remembering SPB On His 75th Birth Anniversary

SP Balasubrahmanyam is an iconic singer, actor, television host, dubbing artist, producer, and music director who had contributed a lot to Indian Cinema. Probably, no other Indian playback singer had as accomplishing a career as SPB. It has been nine months since he left this world. On his 75th birth anniversary, the entire country is remembering this legendary singer.

SPB was born on June 4th, 1946 in Nellore which was then part of the Madras presidency. He was trained in music since his childhood. Eventually, SPB made his playback singing debut with the 1966 Telugu film Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna. That is the foundation for his glorious career.

In the career spanning over five decades, SPB has sung over 40,000 songs in various languages. He also holds the Guinness World Record for this feat. There are times when he recorded up to 20 songs in a single day. Once, SPB recorded 21 songs for Kannada composer Upendra Kumar between 9 am to 9 pm, which also said to be a record.

SPB was capable of singing any kind of song. Be it a romantic number, or a devotional track, or a pathos song, he can do it all. He can emote so well that the listeners can immerse into his world while hearing his songs. If we list out the greatest songs composed in Indian cinema, most of them will be of SPB. Such is his legacy.

SPB won six National Awards for his contribution in four different languages, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada. He also won 25 Nandi Awards, six Filmfare Awards, and many Tamil Nadu state Awards as well. SPB won Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan in the years 2001, 2011, and 2021 respectively.

It was the deadly COVID-19 that took SPB away from this world. He was tested positive for the coronavirus in August last year. He revealed the news through social media by recording a video clip. After that, he underwent treatment for more than a month and finally succumbed to the virus. Balu breathed his last on September 25th last year. Though he is not among us right now, his voice lives on forever.

On this day, the Telugu music fraternity is paying a rich musical tribute to the ‘Gaana Gandharva’ for ten hours. Actors, music composers, directors, singers, lyricists, and other technicians are going to take part in this.