SP Balasubrahmanyam Birthday Special! Evergreen Melodies crooned by the greatest singer of Telugu cinema

One among the greatest playback singers of Indian cinema, Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam, fondly known as SPB, is a living legend. In an illustrious career spanning for over five decades, he has given innumerable musical hits in 15 languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada among others. To specify in numbers, SP Balasubrahmanyam crooned over 40000 songs in Indian cinema and is revered by fans across age groups for his unparalleled contribution to the musical landscape without even receiving a formal education in it.Besides singing, he donned multiple hats of an actor, producer, music director and dubbing artist.
From being honoured in the Guinness World Records for recording the most number of songs (calendar year) to breaking the Madrasi mould in Bollywood, the veteran singer has done it all and today, he is a proud recipient of highest civilian awards like Padmashri and Padma Bhushan from the Government of India. By his own admission, SPB states that he doesn’t know the ABCD of the theory of music. “I don’t know how to write notations even now. I never went to anybody to learn music. But I went to everybody to learn music — by listening to so many people!”
Telusa Manasa from Criminal (1995)

Among the achievements in his professional space, Balasubrahmanyam owns the distinction for rendering the most number of songs in a single day by a singer. He has recorded 21 songs in Kannada for music composer Upendra Kumar in Bangalore from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 19 songs in Tamil and 16 Hindi songs in a day. This incredible feat is something modern day singers can’t even think about in their dreams.
From the mid-60s till late 2000s, almost every South film had an SPB song and especially during the 80s & 90s, there were several films in which all the numbers were sung by Balu himself. The 74-year-old veteran who got his first break with the 1966 Telugu film ‘Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna’ counts K Viswanath’s epic classic ‘Sankarabharanam’ and the 1981 Bollywood hit ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye’ as the two turning points of his career.
Edo Oka Raagam from Raja (1999)

Keeravaani from Anveshana (1985)

In 1989, Balu was roped in as the playback singer for Salman Khan’s debut film ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. All the songs in the romantic drama turned out to become instant chartbusters and the album was majorly credited for the massive success of the film. The astounding success of Sooraj Barjatya’s ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!’ in 1994 solidified Balasubrahmanyam as one of the biggest playback singers in India. He became identified as Salman Khan’s voice in the 90s just like Kishore Kumar became Rajesh Khanna’s voice through the 70s.
Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi from Chettu Kinda Pleader (1989)

For almost a decade, SPB went on to record 15 to 16 songs in a day in Bombay, a number which gradually reduced in the later period. After a long hiatus of 15 years, he made a comeback to Hindi cinema in 2013 by singing the popular title song for Chennai Express – ‘Nikal Na Jaaye Chennai Express’.
Balasubrahmanyam is turning 74 on Thursday (June 3) and on the special occasion; check out some of his evergreen melodies in Telugu cinema. Most of his songs with composer Ilaiyaraaja ended up as all-time greats in the regional film circuit.
O Papa Laali from Geethanjali (1989)

Chiluka kshemama from Rowdy Alludu (1991)

Yamaho Ni from Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990)

Brahma O Brahma from Gemini (2002)

Anando Brahma from Shiva (1990)

Nilavade from Shatamanam Bhavati (2017)