Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, requesting him to confer the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour, on singer SP Balasubrahmanyam who passed away on Friday. The Chief Minister said that the Government of India should consider the outstanding contribution of the singer in the field of music and art for the past five decades.
Writing to the Prime Minister, CM Jagan said that Andhra Pradesh was fortunate for Nellore district being the birthplace of SP Balasubrahmanyam. The death of the singer due to coronavirus-related complications has caused much distress to scores of fans as well as his fellow music and film industry colleagues.
“His immense popularity and the deep impact he left on the global music industry in his 50 years of legacy can be gauged by the continuous flow of rich tributes from music aficionados all over the world,” wrote the Chief Minister.
Jagan pointed out to the Prime Minister that SPB had sung in over 40,000 songs across Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. He had won six national final awards for Best Male Playback Singer for his works, 25 Andhra Pradesh State Nandi Awards for his work in Telugu cinema and numerous other state awards from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
SPB had also won Filmfare Awards for best singer. He was honoured with the Silver Peacock Medal as Indian Film Personality of the Year. He was the recipient of the Padma Shri in 2001 and the Padma Bhushan in 2011.
The Chief Minister pointed out that the Bharat Ratna has been conferred previously to those from the music industry. “As a tribute to the legendary singer for his outstanding contribution in the field of music and art, I request you to confer Bharat Ratna award upon him,” wrote Jagan, adding, “This will be the highest recognition to his remarkable work which has lasted for 5 decades and stays in our memory forever.”
SPB passed away in Chennai on September 25, after being hospitalised for nearly two months after testing positive for the coronavirus. The singer, with his unbelievable transformations, lent his voice to several leading heroes throughout his career in several film industries. His demise was also condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as leaders across India.
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