Playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam awarded Padma Vibhushan posthumously

Playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously on Tuesday.

Playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously on Tuesday. His son SP Charan received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind at the 2021 Civil Investiture Ceremony-I at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.

Balasubrahmanyam was a playback singer, music director, and dubbing artist, his work significantly outdoing language barriers with contributions in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam film industries. 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 breathed his last on September 25, 2020.

This year's list of Padma Awards includes seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan, and 102 Padma Shri Awards, of which 29 awardees are women, 16 posthumous awardees, and one transgender awardee. The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. The Awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher-order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service). The award seeks to recognise achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.

The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year. (ANI)