Veteran singer G Anand passes away at 67 due to COVID-19

G Anand 1954-2021
In a tragic incident, veteran playback singer G Anand passed away due to COVID-19-related complications on Thursday. According to the singer’s close relatives and friends, Anand, who was admitted at a city hospital, was in urgent need for a ventilator which wasn’t provided to him in time. Playback singer Venu Srirangam, who shared an SOS message regarding Anand’s deteriorating health hours before his death, tells us, “I received a call from Anand garu’s family members, who told me that he was critically ill and was in urgent need of a ventilator bed. I spread the word in all our groups and we managed to procure a ventilator but by then it was too late.”

According to Venu, ventilators were available at the hospital before Anand was admitted but they ran out of them before he reached the hospital. “Anand garu’s family decided to take him to the hospital only after confirming that a ventilator was available. However, before he reached the hospital, the ventilator was given to another patient with an emergency situation,” Venu informs. Within an hour after Venu’s SOS message on social media, Anand passed away.

Hailing from Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh, Anand made his singing debut with the hit song Oka Venuvu Vinipinchenu from the 1976 film

America Ammayi

. Over the course of his two-decade-long career, he sang for several Tollywood superstars including NTR, Krishna and Chiranjeevi. He also sang Yeliyallo Yeliyallo from Chiranjeevi’s first film Pranam Khareedu. Some of his other superhit songs included Vithala Vithala Panduranga Vithala and Dikkulu Chudaku Ramayya. Other than singing, Anand also doubled up as a composer and has been credited as a music director for films like Gandhinagar Rendava Veedhi, Swatantraniki Oopiri Poyyandi and Rangavalli.

Towards the later part of his career, Anand widened his repertoire as a singer and released several devotional albums. His devotional song Adigo Gowtami Idigo Bhadrari is considered an evergreen classic even today. Anand also started a musical group called ‘Swara Madhuri’ and he toured all over the world with his troupe, performing in over 600 shows. The musical group also served as a platform for a lot of aspiring singers in the 80s.

Several actors and musicians from the

Telugu

film industry shared their heartfelt condolences to the veteran singer’s family.