Sripathi Panditharadhyula Balasubramanyam is one of the legendary singers in Telugu. We have seen many good singers but none of them is even near Sripathi Panditharadhyula Balasubramanyam or S.P.B.
He is still serving the Telugu music industry at the age of 70 years and no one seems to replace him or dethrone him from the status of “ The Legend”. You can fuel your soul with Telugu music by visiting Naa Songs and download Telugu songs.
S.P.B is a key figure in the Indian film industry but still, there are many things that you might not know. In this article, we will share some interesting facts about him.
1. He got admission in JNTU, Anantapur as he wanted to become an engineer, but had to drop out because of Typhoid.
He had a great passion for music and he used to perform at various music shows and competitions. He once won a competition which was judged by S.P.Kodandapani and Ghantasala, where finally Kodandapani became his mentor.
2. In the early days, he used to head a music troupe, with Anirutta on harmonium, his friend and later Maestro Ilayaraja on guitars and percussion, Ilayaraja’s brothers Bhaskar on percussions, and Gangai Amaran on guitars. They continued this association for a long time.
In 1966, S.P.B was launched in film music with Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna under his mentor Kodandapani. Later on, he debuted into Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam respectively.
3. S.P.B holds a unique record of singing the most number of songs in a day. He sang 21 songs in the span of 12 hours for Kannada composer Upendra Kumar, 19 songs a day in Tamil and 16 songs a day in Hindi. He told me that he used to sing around 15 songs for Anand Milind in Hindi and then come back to Chennai by night.
You will be surprised by the numbers as he sang an average of 930 songs a year or 2.5 songs a day. This makes around 40,000 songs sung by S.P.B. This is also a Guinness world record probably unbeatable by anyone in the world ever.
4. He has achieved many honors and awards during his career. S.P.B has won six national awards, most by any singer over four languages. Three in Telugu for Sagara Sangamam, Rudraveena, and Shankarabharanam, One in Hindi for Ek Duje Ke Liye, One in Tamil for Minsara Kanavu and One in Kannada for Sangeetha Sagara Ganagoyi Panchakshara Gavai.
5. S.P.B has recorded the most number of songs for A.R.Rahman. They composed many songs together and SPB got his first Tamil national award under his composition.
He was not only a playback singer but also he has worked as a music director for 46 films in four different languages which include Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi.
6. He is the only singer who has acted in 72 films in three different languages, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. S.P.B is probably the only Indian singer to have acted in so many films. He can also speak these three languages fluently, though his mother tongue is Telugu.
If we have missed some important facts about him then do let us know in the comments section below.
