Remembering S.P. Balasubrahmanyam: S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, often called as SPB or Balu, was born in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh in a Telugu family that loved music. Even though he studied engineering, music had a stronger pull. His journey into playback singing began in 1966 with a Telugu film called Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna. His mentor, S. P. Kodandapani, gave him that first big chance. From there, he never looked back.
SPB sang in many languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He was loved in every state and became one of the few Indian singers to have fans in every corner of the country. He sang more than 50,000 songs in 16 different languages during his lifetime. According to some reports, this was a world record. He once recorded 28 Kannada songs in one day and also recorded 19 songs in Tamil and 16 in Hindi the same day. That was something only he could do.
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SPB’s songs are still remembered and loved today. His Hindi debut came in Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981). He won a National Award for singing in that movie. One of the most famous songs from that film was Tere Mere Beech Mein. That song became iconic and is still considered one of his best. In fact, actor Kamal Haasan said that song would always be the best one SPB ever sang for him.
In the late 80s and through the 90s, he became the voice of Salman Khan in Bollywood. He sang Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali and Saathiya Tune Kya Kiya songs that became massive hits. In ‘Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! ‘ he gave voice to songs that people still play at weddings and special occasions. ‘Dil Deewana’ won him a Filmfare Award. His duet with Lata Mangeshkar in ‘Didi Tera Devar Deewana’ is still played all over the country. People started calling him Salman Khan’s voice, just like Kishore Kumar was known as Rajesh Khanna’s voice in the 70s.
He even returned to Hindi playback singing after a 15-year break to sing the title track of Chennai Express for Shah Rukh Khan. That showed how timeless and beloved his voice still was.
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Tere Mere Beech Mein – Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981)
Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali – Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)
Saathiya Tune Kya Kiya – Love (1991)
Oka Radha Iddaru Krishnulu
Premalekha Raasa – Sankarabharanam
His death left a big empty space in music and films. But his songs will keep playing for generations. Whether it’s a happy dance song or a slow emotional tune, his voice will always be there in our memories.
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