Legendary playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam is no more. The singer passed away at MGM Healthcare hospital at 1.04 pm in Chennai on Friday. He was 74. The singer was on ventilator for over a month. He had tested positive for COVID-19 on August 5. 

The singer was showing progress initially, but his health took a turn for the worse on Thursday. The hospital released a statement on Thursday evening after his health deteriorated. He was put on maximal life support. 

Popularly known as SPB, Balasubrahmanyam made his singing début in 1966 with Telugu movie Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna. He has sung over 40,000 songs in as many as 16 languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi. He has been singing for over five decades for generations of actors — from MGR, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan.  In the Hindi film industry, he sang for Salman Khan in several films. He was also an actor, producer and voice actor.He is also the recipient of six national awards, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. 

He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter — both are playback singers.

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