Singer P Jayachandran passes away

KOCHI: Legendary playback singer P Jayachandran passed away on Thursday at a private hospital in Thrissur where he was undergoing treatment. He was 80.

Born on March 3,1944 to late Ravivarma Kochaniyan Thampuran, a member of Cochin royal family and late Subhadrakkunjamma, from Paliyath family, he forayed into music by singing 'Orumulla Poomalayumayi' in the film Kunjalimaraikkar in 1965.

The legendary singer has sung more than 15,000 songs in multiple languages. His songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi are popular.

He has worked with well known composers in India -- G Devarajan, MS Babyraj, Ilayaraja, AR Rahman, Vidyasagar to name a few.

Jayachandran won a national award in 1986 for Best Male playback singer. He also won five Kerala state awards and four Tamil Nadu state awards. In 2020, awarded JC Daniel Award, the highest award in Malayalam cinema, for his outstanding contributions to Malayalam cinema.

He also tried his luck in film acting. Known for his role in Nakhakshatam, Sree Krishna Parunthu and Trivandrum Lodge