SP Charan reveals on his plans to build a memorial for SPB
Legendary playback singer S P Balasubramaniam, whose magical and deep rich voice gave life to thousands of songs that mesmerised millions of music lovers transcending borders and languages, passed away on Friday after losing a 52-day long battle against the novel coronavirus. Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (74), who is survived by his wife Savitri, son S P B Charan, and daughter Pallavi, got himself admitted to MGM Healthcare here on August 5 after he tested positive for Covid-19.
As disbelief jostles with sadness and many of us turn to his song list (a formidable 40,000 in 16 Indian languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi), One of the reasons he was revered by fans across age groups is the fact that he made an unparalleled contribution to the musical landscape without even receiving a formal education in music. By his own admission, even after nearly six decades as an award-winning playback singer, he could not write a musical notation. And yet, there was no match for the might of his singing prowess.
Talking to the media at their Tamaraipakkam residence after the funeral, SP Charan thanked everyone for their prayers and love. He said, “I sincerely thank everyone who has been praying for my father’s health for the last few weeks. My family and I will always cherish the concern and love showered on him.” He heartbreakingly added, “SPB is finally breathing well and completely recovered now. He is resting in Tamariapakkam now.”
SP charan also announced that he will soon be building a memorial in remembrance of his father SP Balasubramaniam, dedicating it to his fans. “SPB has dedicated his life to music and he is a people’s man. All these days I know him as my father and a singer but I am shocked to see the number of people gathered to see the last rites and the love he was shown. So, I will soon be establishing his memorial and dedicating it to his admirers and fans. I will announce more details of this soon,” he said.
He further added, “My wish is to build a beautiful memorial for dad, when you google it as SPB it would direct you to the memorial. Dad has dedicated himself to all the music lovers across the nation and the whole world. Now we are going to do this for him. We will let you know once we materialise the plan. Before that, I thank a lot of people who came from abroad to see Dad. We are making arrangements for that too. We are in talks with the local police and the panchayat board. We will tell you how to make this convenient for everyone and will announce it in three days Thanks again to all the media friends.”
