SP Balasubrahmanyam honoured with Padma Vibhushan posthumously, his son receives award. See pics

Late singer SP Balasubrahmanyam was on Tuesday honoured with the Padma Vibhushan (posthumously.) His son, SP Charan received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Sharing a picture, the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted, “President Kovind presents Padma Vibhushan to Shri SP Balasubrahmanyam (Posthumous) for Art. One of the leading figures of Indian cinema, particularly the southern Indian movie industry, he was a top-notch playback singer in multiple languages.”

SP Balasubrahmanyam died on September 25 last year in Chennai. He had tested positive for Covid-19 and was admitted to the MGM Healthcare hospital in early August. However, his health deteriorated and a day later, he died after suffering a cardio-respiratory arrest at the age of 74.

The Padma Shri award-winning musician is survived by his wife Savitri Balasubrahmanyam and his children SP Charan and Pallavi Balasubrahmanyam. Previously, SP Balasubrahmanyam had won six national awards and was also felicitated with Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhushan (2011).

He has recorded over 50,000 songs in his career with contributions in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam film industries, spanning over five decades. His Hindi songs include Tumse Milne Ke, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Tere Mere Beech Mein, Aaja Shaam Hone Aayee, and Hum Aapke Hain Koun among others.

Within a day of his funeral, his son SP Charan in a video on Facebook clarified that SP Balasubrahmanyam’s family didn’t seek help from Vice President Venkaiah Naidu or the Tamil Nadu government to clear his father’s hospital bills.

He had said, “Whoever spread this message, don’t seem to realize how hurtful and offensive it is to those associated with the issue. I don’t think SPB’s fans can do something like this. I want to forgive this person or persons who have been spreading these rumours. I hope he gets some sense and does the right thing.”

Also Read | SP Balasubrahmanyam’s son SP Charan refutes rumours about father’s unpaid hospital bills

SP Charan had also said, “We as a family are completely grateful for everything that MGM Healthcare did for us, for my father as a patient and for us as a family who were attending and taking care of him. I truly miss going to the hospital, miss meeting all doctors and nurses. I am not going to give any details right now because the hospital and I are going to do a press release together.”