Biography
Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam, is a prolific Indian singer. He is also known as S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S.P.B. and Baalu in the media.
He got his first oppurtunity in 1966 to sing in the kannada film Gandhinagara starring Dr.Rajkumar in the lead role.He has captivated the audience with his mesmerising voice and approach with samskara, of which there is a dearth in present day artists. Balu took to singing as a hobby during his childhood. He developed an interest in music very early in his life, and had studied notations and learnt to play instruments such as harmonium and flute on his own while listening to his father. His father wanted Balu to become an engineer; this brought him to Ananthpur, where he enrolled for the AMIE course in JNTU. Meanwhile, he also pursued his hobby and won awards at many singing competitions. There he was identified as a good singer in annual college programmes where he use to sing. Some friends recommended that he sing in Madras and provided him with referrals.
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In 1964, a Madras-based Telugu Cultural Organisation, organised a music competition for amateur singers. Balu won the first prize, and that proved a turning point in his life. Music director SP Kodandapani took him under his wing. Offers then poured in from Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam movies.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.