Celebrated Indian singer SP Balasubrahmanyam has died at the age of 74 in a Chennai hospital after almost two months of treatment, according to the local media.
SPB, as the beloved singer was popularly known, had been hospitalised since August 5 after testing positive for COVID-19. He tested negative over a month later but could not be taken off the ventilator, reports bdnews24.com citing Indian broadcaster NDTV.
“SPB belongs to everyone. He will live on in his songs. My dad passed away at 1.04 pm,” SPB’s son SP Charan told reporters at MGM Healthcare in Chennai on Friday.
On Thursday, the hospital said in a medical bulletin that SPB’s condition had worsened in the last 24 hours and that he was on maximum life support.
Tributes to SPB poured in on social media soon after his son announced his death.
Eulogy posts were shared by two of Balasubrahmanyam's most frequent collaborators -- Kamal Haasan and AR Rahman.
Kamal Haasan, who visited the hospital on Thursday evening, tweeted in Tamil: "It's my good fortune that I was the shadow image of SPB for a long time. His fame will live for 7 generations."
Rahman wrote, "Devastated."
Tributes were also shared by politicians such as HD Deve Gowda, Shiva Kumar and Khushbu Sundar as well as Hema Malini.
Rajinikanth's daughter Soundarya was among the first to share a tribute, writing "RIP SPB sir."
SP Balasubrahmanyam, the winner of six National Awards, leaves behind a vast body of work that spans 40,000 songs in 16 languages. He worked extensively for Ilaiyaraaja, AR Rahman and other composers.
In the Hindi film industry, he sang for Salman Khan in several films. He was also an actor, producer and voice actor. SPB was a recipient of the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.
