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K. J. Yesudas

January 06, 2023

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs.[1] He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music[2][3] and also as a cultural icon of Kerala.[4][5] Yesudas is estimated to have recorded more than 72,000+ songs[6] in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Odia,[7] Bengali, Marathi as well as Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian, in a career spanning six decades.[8][9] He is often referred to as Gaanagandharvan (transl. The Celestial Singer).[10] He is one of the highly acclaimed singers in India.[11] Yesudas holds the record for singing 11 songs in different languages in a single day.[12] He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s.

K. J. Yesudas
Yesudas in June 2011
Born
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas

(1940-01-10) 10 January 1940 (age 82)
Fort Kochi, Kingdom of Cochin, British India
(present-day Kochi, Kerala, India)
Other namesDasettan, Ganagandharvan
Alma materSwathi Thirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram
Occupations
Years active1961–present
Spouse
Prabha
​
(m. 1970)​
Children3, including Vijay Yesudas
AwardsFull list
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals
Labels
Websitedrkjyesudas.com[dead link]
Signature

Yesudas won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer record eight times,[13] the Filmfare Awards South five times, and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer forty-three times, including awards given by the state governments of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal.[2] He was awarded the Padma Shri[14] in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 2002, and the Padma Vibhushan (second-highest civilian award) in 2017 by the Government of India for his contributions towards the arts.[15] In 2005, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema. In 2011 Yesudas was honoured with the CNN-IBN outstanding achievement award for his contributions in the music field. In 2006, he sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages on the same day at AVM Studio, Chennai.[16]

Early life

K. J. Yesudas was born in Kochi, in Kerala, in a Latin Catholic Christian family to Augustine Joseph and Elizabeth Joseph. His father was a well-known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor.[10] Yesudas was the second of seven children, preceded by an elder sister named Pushpa, and followed by four younger brothers - Antony (Antappan), Babu, Mani, Justin and a younger sister, Jayamma.[17] Among these siblings, Pushpa and Babu died of fever at a young age, and Justin, the youngest brother, died under mysterious circumstances in February 2020, aged 62.

Augustine Joseph's dearest friend, Musician Kunjan Velu Bhagavathar was the first guru of him. Kunjan Velu was the disciple of Nadaswara Chakravarthi T N Raja Ratnam Pillai. Yesudas started his academic music training at R. L. V. Music Academy, Thrippunithura and completed the Ganabooshanam course. Later he studied at Swathi Thirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram under the tutelage of the carnatic music maestro K. R. Kumaraswamy Iyer and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer but could not complete his studies due to financial constraints. For a brief period, he also studied music under Vechoor Harihara Subramania Iyer, after which he took advanced training from Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar.[18]

In 2021, Yesudas completed 60 years as a playback singer.[19]

Career

Debut and early career: 1960s

 
Yesudas with poet and lyricist O. N. V. Kurup

Yesudas recorded his first popular song Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music: M. B. Sreenivasan) on 14 November 1961. The singer considers those four lines he got to sing to start his career in films as a huge blessing as it was written by none other than Sree Narayana Guru, the most respected saint-poet-social reformer of Kerala. The film was Kalpadukal (1962), based on social reform during the life and times of Sree Narayana Guru. He associated with popular singers of those times like P. Leela, Santha P. Nair, K. P. Udayabhanu, S. Janaki etc. and lyricists like P. Bhaskaran and Nambiyath. He sang the lines of poet Kumaran Asan for this film. After the initial years he became the most sought after by established music directors of that time, M. B. Sreenivasan, G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy, Br Lakshmanan, M. S. Baburaj and many others. Thus began his career in playback singing which included the Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies thereafter.[3]

He got the first major break with the hit Malayalam film named Bharya ( music by G. Devarajan and lyrics by Vayalar Ramavarma). In 1967, he sang hit songs in the composition of M.S.Baburaj for the film Udhyogastha directed by P.Venu. He also sang in Tamil for Bommai first (music: S. Balachander), but the first released movie was Konjum Kumari (music: Veda). In 1965, he was invited by the Soviet Union government to perform at music concerts in various cities in the USSR and also sang a Russian song over Radio Kazakhstan.[20] The trio of Salil, Yesudas and Prem Nazir entered the Malayalam Cinema Industry of the 1970s.

In 1970 he was nominated to head the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and was the youngest person ever to occupy the post.[20]

Bollywood: 1970s

After a decade of singing in South Indian movies, Yesudas got a break in Bollywood in the early 1970s. The first Hindi song he sang was for the movie Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (1971), but the first released movie was Chhoti Si Baat, which resulted in his becoming popular for singings songs like "Jaaneman Jaaneman". He has sung Hindi songs for many leading actors in Hindi cinema including Amitabh Bachchan, Amol Palekar and Jeetendra. He has sung many evergreen Hindi film songs for music directors including Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Khayyam, Rajkamal and Salil Chowdhury.

Yesudas' most popular Hindi songs are in the 1976 movie Chitchor, with music given by Ravindra Jain.

On 14 November 1999, Yesudas was presented with an honorary award by UNESCO for "Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace" at the "Music for Peace" event in Paris, a concert held to mark the dawn of the new millennium and whose attendees included artistes such as Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Montserrat Caballé, and Zubin Mehta.[21]

In 2001 he sang for album Ahimsa in Sanskrit, Latin and English and in a mix of styles including new-age and Carnatic.[22] In his music concerts in the Middle East he sings Arabic songs in the Carnatic style.[23] He frequently serves as a cultural ambassador for India through his performances abroad, promoting Indian music.

In 2009 Yesudas began a cross-country musical campaign against terrorism in Thiruvananthapuram, with the motto 'Music For Peace'.[24] Kavita Karkare, wife of Hemant Karkare, handed over the torch to Yesudas to mark the launch of the 'Shanthi Sangeetha Yatra'.[25] Yesudas has performed for 36 times in the 36-year-old Soorya Music festival organised by Soorya Krishnamoorthy.[26]

Personal life

Yesudas is married to Prabha. Their marriage was on 1 February 1970. They have three sons, Vinod (b. 1977), Vijay (b. 1979) and Vishal (b. 1981). Their second son Vijay Yesudas is a musician who won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 2007, 2012 and 2018.[27]

 
Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Rajat Kamal Award to Yesudas

Sree Narayana Guru's message, "One religion and One God for all humanity", influenced young Yesudas in his dealings with his fellow men. He had his own heroes among the musicians too. Mohammed Rafi, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar and Balamurali Krishna are the ones he admires the most.[28] Yesudas has been visiting Kollur Mookambika temple, Kollur, Karnataka on his birthday to sing keerthans of Saraswati devi, the Goddess of knowledge, music and the arts. The music festival started on his 60th birthday in 2000. The nine-day music festival begins every January at Kollur Mookambika Temple. On Sunday, 10 January 2010, he celebrated his 70th birthday (Sapthathi) at Kollur Sri Mookambika Temple with 'Sangeetharchana' (classical devotional songs), along with 70 singers before goddess Mookambika. The Sangeetharchana included "Pancharatna Gayana" of Thyagaraja's poems. He also took part in the Vidyarambha function. All India Radio broadcast the special Sangeetharchana all over Kerala. Yesudas also has many songs devoted to Lord Ayyappa including the hit song "Harivarasanam".[29][30][31][32] In 2002, during Marad massacre, he visited the place along with the veteran poet Sugathakumari, and conducted classes against violence. Harivarasanam, a devotional song musical version composed by G. Devarajan, recited before closing the temple at Sabarimala was sung by Yesudas. Though there have been many different renditions of this song by many different renowned singers, Sabarimala officially uses Yesudas' voice for Harivarasanam every day.[2]

Music company

In 1980 Yesudas established the Tharangani Studio at Trivandrum. In 1992 the office and studio were moved to Chennai, Tamil Nadu and the company was incorporated in the US in 1998. Tharangni Studio and Tharangni Records became a recording center in Kerala which, for the first time, brought out audio cassettes of Malayalam film songs in stereo. The record company also had a voice mixing studio in Studio27, Chennai. The studio continues to produce and present events of Yesudas, both for film and Indian classical music concerts throughout the world.[33]

Awards and honours

Main article: List of titles, honours and major awards received by Yesudas
 
The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Vibhushan Award to Dr. K.J. Yesudas, at the Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on 13 April 2017

Yesudas has recorded over 50,000 songs and has won scores of accolades including the coveted Padma Shri (1975),[34] Padma Bhushan (2002),[35] Padma Vibhushan (2017)[36] and eight National Awards for Best Playback Singer.

Admiration

In his acceptance speech of winning the Swaralaya Kairali Yesudas Award (2006), AR Rahman said "I'm greatly honoured by Swaralaya's gesture, and getting this award from my most favourite singer Mr Yesudas. He is one of my most favourite voices' ever in the world." On another occasion during an interview he said of Yesudas, "his voice is unmatched, his voice is god given and I've been hearing his songs since I was 3 years old"

Ravindra Jain, in an interview wherein the blind music director confessed that if ever he happened to regain vision, the first person he would like to see would be Yesudas.

In 2003, billionaire and businessman B. R. Shetty gifted him his 1992 model Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit after listening his concert held at The Indian High School, Dubai. Shetty said: "I was not only touched by his concert but by the man himself who talked about God's kindness to mankind".[45]

Bappi Lahiri said in an interview with Filmfare in 2012: "'Yesudas' voice is touched by God. After Kishore Da(Kishore Kumar), he was another singer who brought out the best in me. He is a yogi, a mystic who lives for music. He takes your tunes to another level. And his note is perfect, you can rely on him to deliver it right the first time. Working with him made me touch base with my melodious side. He is vastly under-utilised in Hindi films. I wish Hindi film composers of today realise his genius and offer him assignments."[46]

Controversies

On 2 October 2014, Yesudas sparked a row while speaking at a public function on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, where he stated that "Women should not wear dress that trouble others. You should dress modestly and do not behave like men". This resulted in a number of protests from Women's Rights and Political organizations, who asked him to withdraw the comment.[47]

Filmography

As Actor

As music composer

  • Azhakulla Saleena (1973)
  • Theekkanal (1976)
  • Sanchari (1981)
  • Abhinayam (1981)
  • Poocha Sanyasi (1981)
  • Ellaam Ayyappan (1988)

Discography

Main article: K. J. Yesudas discography
Main article: List of Malayalam songs recorded by K. J. Yesudas
Main article: K. J. Yesudas Tamil Discography
Main article: List of Kannada songs recorded by K. J. Yesudas
Main article: List of Hindi songs recorded by K. J. Yesudas

See also

[50]

References

  1. ^ Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-135-94318-9.
  2. ^ a b c "Music legend Yesudas turns 70". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 10 January 2010. from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  3. ^ a b "'I don't sing trendy music'". Rediff. from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2009.
  4. ^ "An icon's music and musings". Deccan Herald. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Legendary singer KJ Yesudas turns 81". ETV Bharat News. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  6. ^ . 17 December 2011. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  7. ^ "K.J Yesudas all odia songs".
  8. ^ Kurian, Sangeeth (3 September 2002). "Those magical moments..." The Hindu. from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  9. ^ Padmanabhan, Savitha (8 February 2001). . The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ a b Wangchuk, Rinchen Norbu (10 January 2020). "Here is Why KJ Yesudas is Known as 'Celestial Singer'". The Better India. from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  11. ^ Sivapriyan, ETB (25 September 2020). "S P Balasubrahmanyam and wife performed 'padha pooja' on Yesudas". Deccan Herald. from the original on 29 September 2020.
  12. ^ നായർ, അനീഷ് (10 January 2020). "അര നൂറ്റാണ്ടിനിടെ ഗാനഗന്ധർവൻ എത്ര പാട്ടുകൾ പാടിയിട്ടുണ്ടാവും?". Malayala Manorama. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  13. ^ a b Kumar, P. K. Ajith (14 April 2018). "A record most melodious for this singing legend". The Hindu.
  14. ^ "Padma Vibhushan is another stepping stone for K J Yesudas - Times of India". The Times of India. from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  15. ^ "Padma Bhushan Awardees – Padma Awards – My India, My Pride". India.gov.in. from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  16. ^ . The Hindu. Chennai, India. 1 December 2006. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  17. ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy; M, Athira; Pradeep, K. (10 January 2020). "KJ Yesudas: A name that spells melody". The Hindu. from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  18. ^ "With 70,000 songs to his credit, legendary singer Yesudas turns 78". Malayala Manorama. 10 January 2018. from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  19. ^ Soman, Sandhya (9 September 2011). "Book on Yesudas tracks the men who made the star". The Times of India. from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  20. ^ a b . stateofkerala.in. Archived from the original on 5 December 2011.
  21. ^ . Asianet india. Archived from the original on 24 January 2012.
  22. ^ . Hinduonnet.com. 19 February 2001. Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ Vineet Pillai (15 November 2003). . Indien-netzwerk.de. Archived from the original on 31 May 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  24. ^ "Yesudas' Musical Campaign for peace". oneindia.com. 13 January 2009. from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  25. ^ . The Hindu. Chennai, India. 12 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  26. ^ "Gaanagandharvan graces the Soorya festival for the 36th time". thiraseela.com. from the original on 30 June 2017.
  27. ^ Ajay Gosh. . Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  28. ^ "'I do not sing trendy music': Yesudas". Rediff.com. 7 May 2001. from the original on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  29. ^ . Non Resident Kerala Associations. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  30. ^ "Yesudas celebrated Birthday at Kollur". Oneindia Entertainment. 19 January 2009. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  31. ^ PTI (10 January 2012). "Music legend Yesudas turns 72". The Hindu. Chennai, India. from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  32. ^ "Yesudas celebrates 70th birthday in Kollur". The New Indian Express. 11 January 2010. from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  33. ^ . keralatourism.org. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  34. ^ . Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  35. ^ . Ministry of Home Affairs. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  36. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  37. ^ "'I don't sing trendy music'". Rediff.com. 7 May 2001. from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  38. ^ "A Brief History of the University". University of Kerala. from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  39. ^ "Varsity confers honorary doctorate on CJI, Yesudas". WebIndia123. 19 May 2009. from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  40. ^ "Saroji Devi Honours Yesudas". from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  41. ^ "Singer Yesudas among 62 chosen for Karnataka Rajyotsava Award". from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  42. ^ . The Hindu. 20 January 2003. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  43. ^ . The Hindu. Chennai, India. 16 December 2007. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  44. ^ . The Hindu. Chennai, India. 12 January 2009. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  45. ^ . Sify. 4 December 2003. Archived from the original on 24 December 2003. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  46. ^ "King of Ooh la la land". from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  47. ^ "KJ Yesudas: India singer criticised for 'sexist' jeans remark". BBC News. 3 October 2014. from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  48. ^ B. Vijayakumar (31 May 2010). . The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  49. ^ "Cinestaan". from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  50. ^ "Playlist Ultimate K. J. Yesudas - Malayalam on Hungama.com". Hungama Music. Retrieved 8 August 2022.

External links

  • Tharangni Digital
  • K. J. Yesudas at IMDb
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to K. J. Yesudas.
  • "Article on Yesudas: 'For me music is God'". The Tribune. 15 October 2005.

January 06, 2023
yesudas, kattassery, joseph, yesudas, born, january, 1940, indian, playback, singer, musician, sings, indian, classical, devotional, film, songs, widely, regarded, greatest, singers, history, indian, music, also, cultural, icon, kerala, yesudas, estimated, hav. Kattassery Joseph Yesudas born 10 January 1940 is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical devotional and film songs 1 He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music 2 3 and also as a cultural icon of Kerala 4 5 Yesudas is estimated to have recorded more than 72 000 songs 6 in various Indian languages including Malayalam Tamil Kannada Telugu Hindi Odia 7 Bengali Marathi as well as Arabic English Latin and Russian in a career spanning six decades 8 9 He is often referred to as Gaanagandharvan transl The Celestial Singer 10 He is one of the highly acclaimed singers in India 11 Yesudas holds the record for singing 11 songs in different languages in a single day 12 He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s K J YesudasYesudas in June 2011BornKattassery Joseph Yesudas 1940 01 10 10 January 1940 age 82 Fort Kochi Kingdom of Cochin British India present day Kochi Kerala India Other namesDasettan GanagandharvanAlma materSwathi Thirunal College of Music ThiruvananthapuramOccupationsSingercomposermusic producerYears active1961 presentSpousePrabha m 1970 wbr Children3 including Vijay YesudasAwardsFull listMusical careerGenresIndian classical music Playback singing FilmiInstrument s VocalsLabelsTharangni HMVWebsitedrkjyesudas wbr com dead link SignatureYesudas won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer record eight times 13 the Filmfare Awards South five times and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer forty three times including awards given by the state governments of Kerala Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh Karnataka and West Bengal 2 He was awarded the Padma Shri 14 in 1975 the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and the Padma Vibhushan second highest civilian award in 2017 by the Government of India for his contributions towards the arts 15 In 2005 he was honoured with the J C Daniel Award Kerala government s highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema In 2011 Yesudas was honoured with the CNN IBN outstanding achievement award for his contributions in the music field In 2006 he sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages on the same day at AVM Studio Chennai 16 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Debut and early career 1960s 2 2 Bollywood 1970s 3 Personal life 4 Music company 5 Awards and honours 6 Admiration 7 Controversies 8 Filmography 8 1 As Actor 8 2 As music composer 9 Discography 10 See also 11 References 12 External linksEarly life EditK J Yesudas was born in Kochi in Kerala in a Latin Catholic Christian family to Augustine Joseph and Elizabeth Joseph His father was a well known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor 10 Yesudas was the second of seven children preceded by an elder sister named Pushpa and followed by four younger brothers Antony Antappan Babu Mani Justin and a younger sister Jayamma 17 Among these siblings Pushpa and Babu died of fever at a young age and Justin the youngest brother died under mysterious circumstances in February 2020 aged 62 Augustine Joseph s dearest friend Musician Kunjan Velu Bhagavathar was the first guru of him Kunjan Velu was the disciple of Nadaswara Chakravarthi T N Raja Ratnam Pillai Yesudas started his academic music training at R L V Music Academy Thrippunithura and completed the Ganabooshanam course Later he studied at Swathi Thirunal College of Music Thiruvananthapuram under the tutelage of the carnatic music maestro K R Kumaraswamy Iyer and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer but could not complete his studies due to financial constraints For a brief period he also studied music under Vechoor Harihara Subramania Iyer after which he took advanced training from Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar 18 In 2021 Yesudas completed 60 years as a playback singer 19 Career EditDebut and early career 1960s Edit Yesudas with poet and lyricist O N V Kurup Yesudas recorded his first popular song Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham music M B Sreenivasan on 14 November 1961 The singer considers those four lines he got to sing to start his career in films as a huge blessing as it was written by none other than Sree Narayana Guru the most respected saint poet social reformer of Kerala The film was Kalpadukal 1962 based on social reform during the life and times of Sree Narayana Guru He associated with popular singers of those times like P Leela Santha P Nair K P Udayabhanu S Janaki etc and lyricists like P Bhaskaran and Nambiyath He sang the lines of poet Kumaran Asan for this film After the initial years he became the most sought after by established music directors of that time M B Sreenivasan G Devarajan V Dakshinamoorthy Br Lakshmanan M S Baburaj and many others Thus began his career in playback singing which included the Malayalam Tamil Telugu and Kannada movies thereafter 3 He got the first major break with the hit Malayalam film named Bharya music by G Devarajan and lyrics by Vayalar Ramavarma In 1967 he sang hit songs in the composition of M S Baburaj for the film Udhyogastha directed by P Venu He also sang in Tamil for Bommai first music S Balachander but the first released movie was Konjum Kumari music Veda In 1965 he was invited by the Soviet Union government to perform at music concerts in various cities in the USSR and also sang a Russian song over Radio Kazakhstan 20 The trio of Salil Yesudas and Prem Nazir entered the Malayalam Cinema Industry of the 1970s In 1970 he was nominated to head the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and was the youngest person ever to occupy the post 20 Bollywood 1970s Edit After a decade of singing in South Indian movies Yesudas got a break in Bollywood in the early 1970s The first Hindi song he sang was for the movie Jai Jawan Jai Kissan 1971 but the first released movie was Chhoti Si Baat which resulted in his becoming popular for singings songs like Jaaneman Jaaneman He has sung Hindi songs for many leading actors in Hindi cinema including Amitabh Bachchan Amol Palekar and Jeetendra He has sung many evergreen Hindi film songs for music directors including Ravindra Jain Bappi Lahiri Khayyam Rajkamal and Salil Chowdhury Yesudas most popular Hindi songs are in the 1976 movie Chitchor with music given by Ravindra Jain On 14 November 1999 Yesudas was presented with an honorary award by UNESCO for Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace at the Music for Peace event in Paris a concert held to mark the dawn of the new millennium and whose attendees included artistes such as Lionel Richie Ray Charles Montserrat Caballe and Zubin Mehta 21 In 2001 he sang for album Ahimsa in Sanskrit Latin and English and in a mix of styles including new age and Carnatic 22 In his music concerts in the Middle East he sings Arabic songs in the Carnatic style 23 He frequently serves as a cultural ambassador for India through his performances abroad promoting Indian music In 2009 Yesudas began a cross country musical campaign against terrorism in Thiruvananthapuram with the motto Music For Peace 24 Kavita Karkare wife of Hemant Karkare handed over the torch to Yesudas to mark the launch of the Shanthi Sangeetha Yatra 25 Yesudas has performed for 36 times in the 36 year old Soorya Music festival organised by Soorya Krishnamoorthy 26 Personal life EditYesudas is married to Prabha Their marriage was on 1 February 1970 They have three sons Vinod b 1977 Vijay b 1979 and Vishal b 1981 Their second son Vijay Yesudas is a musician who won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 2007 2012 and 2018 27 Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Rajat Kamal Award to Yesudas Sree Narayana Guru s message One religion and One God for all humanity influenced young Yesudas in his dealings with his fellow men He had his own heroes among the musicians too Mohammed Rafi Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar and Balamurali Krishna are the ones he admires the most 28 Yesudas has been visiting Kollur Mookambika temple Kollur Karnataka on his birthday to sing keerthans of Saraswati devi the Goddess of knowledge music and the arts The music festival started on his 60th birthday in 2000 The nine day music festival begins every January at Kollur Mookambika Temple On Sunday 10 January 2010 he celebrated his 70th birthday Sapthathi at Kollur Sri Mookambika Temple with Sangeetharchana classical devotional songs along with 70 singers before goddess Mookambika The Sangeetharchana included Pancharatna Gayana of Thyagaraja s poems He also took part in the Vidyarambha function All India Radio broadcast the special Sangeetharchana all over Kerala Yesudas also has many songs devoted to Lord Ayyappa including the hit song Harivarasanam 29 30 31 32 In 2002 during Marad massacre he visited the place along with the veteran poet Sugathakumari and conducted classes against violence Harivarasanam a devotional song musical version composed by G Devarajan recited before closing the temple at Sabarimala was sung by Yesudas Though there have been many different renditions of this song by many different renowned singers Sabarimala officially uses Yesudas voice for Harivarasanam every day 2 Music company EditIn 1980 Yesudas established the Tharangani Studio at Trivandrum In 1992 the office and studio were moved to Chennai Tamil Nadu and the company was incorporated in the US in 1998 Tharangni Studio and Tharangni Records became a recording center in Kerala which for the first time brought out audio cassettes of Malayalam film songs in stereo The record company also had a voice mixing studio in Studio27 Chennai The studio continues to produce and present events of Yesudas both for film and Indian classical music concerts throughout the world 33 Awards and honours EditMain article List of titles honours and major awards received by Yesudas The President Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Vibhushan Award to Dr K J Yesudas at the Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on 13 April 2017 Yesudas has recorded over 50 000 songs and has won scores of accolades including the coveted Padma Shri 1975 34 Padma Bhushan 2002 35 Padma Vibhushan 2017 36 and eight National Awards for Best Playback Singer National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer a record 8 times by the Government of India 13 Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer a record 25 times for the best playback singer by the Government of Kerala Tamil Nadu State Film Awards 5 times for the best playback singer by the Government of Tamil Nadu West Bengal State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer by the Government of West Bengal 1 time Andhra Pradesh State Film Awards 4 times for the best playback singer by the Government of Andhra Pradesh J C Daniel Award from Government of Kerala Honorary doctorates from Annamalai University 37 Kerala University 38 and MG University 39 Anandalok Best Male Playback Award 1 time for the best playback singer Sangeetha Kalasikhamani 2002 by The Indian Fine arts Society Chennai Padmabhushan B Sarojadevi National Award 2015 by Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan Bangalore 40 Karnataka Rajyotsava Award from Government of Karnataka in the year 2017 41 Karnataka State Film Award 1991 Best Playback Singer Male Film Ramachari Song Nammura Yuvarani Swaralaya Yesudas award is a prestigious award for music artists in recognition of their outstanding performance The award is instituted jointly by Swaralaya an organisation that promotes music and Kairali Channel based in Trivandrum Kerala Awards have been given annually since 2000 Yesudas presents the awards at a Gandharva Sandhya every January 42 43 44 Admiration EditIn his acceptance speech of winning the Swaralaya Kairali Yesudas Award 2006 AR Rahman said I m greatly honoured by Swaralaya s gesture and getting this award from my most favourite singer Mr Yesudas He is one of my most favourite voices ever in the world On another occasion during an interview he said of Yesudas his voice is unmatched his voice is god given and I ve been hearing his songs since I was 3 years old Ravindra Jain in an interview wherein the blind music director confessed that if ever he happened to regain vision the first person he would like to see would be Yesudas In 2003 billionaire and businessman B R Shetty gifted him his 1992 model Rolls Royce Silver Spirit after listening his concert held at The Indian High School Dubai Shetty said I was not only touched by his concert but by the man himself who talked about God s kindness to mankind 45 Bappi Lahiri said in an interview with Filmfare in 2012 Yesudas voice is touched by God After Kishore Da Kishore Kumar he was another singer who brought out the best in me He is a yogi a mystic who lives for music He takes your tunes to another level And his note is perfect you can rely on him to deliver it right the first time Working with him made me touch base with my melodious side He is vastly under utilised in Hindi films I wish Hindi film composers of today realise his genius and offer him assignments 46 Controversies EditOn 2 October 2014 Yesudas sparked a row while speaking at a public function on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti where he stated that Women should not wear dress that trouble others You should dress modestly and do not behave like men This resulted in a number of protests from Women s Rights and Political organizations who asked him to withdraw the comment 47 Filmography EditAs Actor Edit Year Film Stars Director Role Language1965 Kavyamela Prem Nazir M Krishnan Nair as himself Malayalam1966 Kayamkulam Kochunni Sathyan P Bhaskaran as Khader1966 Anarkali 48 Prem Nazir Sathyan Kunchacko as Tansen1973 Achaani Prem Nazir P Bhaskaran as singer1977 Nirakudam Kamalhassan A Bhimsingh1977 Harshabashpam M G Soman P Gopikumar1980 Saranam Ayyappa Jayabharathi Dasarathan 49 Tamil1981 Pathira Sooryan Prem Nazir P Krishna Pillai as saint Malayalam2002 Nandanam Prithviraj Navya Nair Ranjith as himself2005 Boyy Friend Manikuttan Vinayan2012 Theruvu Nakshatrangal Tini Tom Jose MaveilyAs music composer Edit Azhakulla Saleena 1973 Theekkanal 1976 Sanchari 1981 Abhinayam 1981 Poocha Sanyasi 1981 Ellaam Ayyappan 1988 Discography EditMain article K J Yesudas discography Main article List of Malayalam songs recorded by K J Yesudas Main article K J Yesudas Tamil Discography Main article List of Kannada songs recorded by K J Yesudas Main article List of Hindi songs recorded by K J YesudasSee also EditSwaralaya Yesudas Award List of Carnatic singers Harivarasanam 50 References Edit Rajadhyaksha Ashish Willemen Paul 10 July 2014 Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema Routledge p 240 ISBN 978 1 135 94318 9 a b c Music legend Yesudas turns 70 The Hindu Chennai India 10 January 2010 Archived from the original on 3 March 2014 Retrieved 8 January 2011 a b I don t sing trendy music Rediff Archived from the original on 25 February 2008 Retrieved 6 September 2009 An icon s music and musings Deccan Herald 12 May 2010 Retrieved 13 July 2021 Legendary singer KJ Yesudas turns 81 ETV Bharat News Retrieved 13 July 2021 Yesudas receives CNN IBN Indian of the Year award 17 December 2011 Archived from the original on 13 March 2016 Retrieved 1 September 2016 K J Yesudas all odia songs Kurian Sangeeth 3 September 2002 Those magical moments The Hindu Archived from the original on 31 January 2021 Retrieved 31 January 2021 Padmanabhan Savitha 8 February 2001 Life devoted to music The Hindu Archived from the original on 29 October 2009 Retrieved 19 August 2008 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link a b Wangchuk Rinchen Norbu 10 January 2020 Here is Why KJ Yesudas is Known as Celestial Singer The Better India Archived from the original on 4 August 2020 Retrieved 14 November 2020 Sivapriyan ETB 25 September 2020 S P Balasubrahmanyam and wife performed padha pooja on Yesudas Deccan Herald Archived from the original on 29 September 2020 ന യർ അന ഷ 10 January 2020 അര ന റ റ ണ ട ന ട ഗ നഗന ധർവൻ എത ര പ ട ട കൾ പ ട യ ട ട ണ ട വ Malayala Manorama Retrieved 13 July 2021 a b Kumar P K Ajith 14 April 2018 A record most melodious for this singing legend The Hindu Padma Vibhushan is another stepping stone for K J Yesudas Times of India The Times of India Archived from the original on 20 June 2018 Retrieved 28 June 2018 Padma Bhushan Awardees Padma Awards My India My Pride India gov in Archived from the original on 10 October 2012 Retrieved 9 September 2011 One for the records The Hindu Chennai India 1 December 2006 Archived from the original on 18 April 2010 Retrieved 1 May 2010 Nagarajan Saraswathy M Athira Pradeep K 10 January 2020 KJ Yesudas A name that spells melody The Hindu Archived from the original on 4 December 2020 Retrieved 14 November 2020 With 70 000 songs to his credit legendary singer Yesudas turns 78 Malayala Manorama 10 January 2018 Archived from the original on 14 November 2020 Retrieved 14 November 2020 Soman Sandhya 9 September 2011 Book on Yesudas tracks the men who made the star The Times of India Archived from the original on 30 October 2020 Retrieved 14 November 2020 a b CDR K J YESUDAS THE INDIAN PLAYBACK SINGING LEGEND S RAGS TO RICHES stateofkerala in Archived from the original on 5 December 2011 KJ Yesudas completes 50 glorious years as singer Asianet india Archived from the original on 24 January 2012 Ahimsa Album Hinduonnet com 19 February 2001 Archived from the original on 10 December 2006 Retrieved 9 September 2011 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Vineet Pillai 15 November 2003 Exclusive Interview with Yesudas on 15th November 2003 Indien netzwerk de Archived from the original on 31 May 2010 Retrieved 1 May 2010 Yesudas Musical Campaign for peace oneindia com 13 January 2009 Archived from the original on 17 January 2021 Retrieved 9 January 2012 Tributes paid to Hemant Karkare The Hindu Chennai India 12 January 2009 Archived from the original on 3 November 2012 Retrieved 1 May 2010 Gaanagandharvan graces the Soorya festival for the 36th time thiraseela com Archived from the original on 30 June 2017 Ajay Gosh Dr KJ Yesudas Singer with a Golden Voice Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 I do not sing trendy music Yesudas Rediff com 7 May 2001 Archived from the original on 1 June 2010 Retrieved 1 May 2010 Gandharva of songs K J Yesudas celebrates 70th birthday Non Resident Kerala Associations Archived from the original on 27 December 2018 Retrieved 1 May 2010 Yesudas celebrated Birthday at Kollur Oneindia Entertainment 19 January 2009 Archived from the original on 11 July 2012 Retrieved 1 May 2010 PTI 10 January 2012 Music legend Yesudas turns 72 The Hindu Chennai India Archived from the original on 3 March 2014 Retrieved 1 May 2010 Yesudas celebrates 70th birthday in Kollur The New Indian Express 11 January 2010 Archived from the original on 7 March 2014 Retrieved 1 May 2010 Dr K J Yesudas keralatourism org Archived from the original on 1 June 2010 Retrieved 18 March 2010 Padma Shri Awardees Ministry of Home Affairs Archived from the original on 4 December 2014 Retrieved 27 November 2014 Padma Bhushan Awardees Ministry of Home Affairs Archived from the original on 4 December 2014 Retrieved 27 November 2014 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 29 January 2017 Retrieved 25 January 2017 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link I don t sing trendy music Rediff com 7 May 2001 Archived from the original on 19 June 2017 Retrieved 16 September 2020 A Brief History of the University University of Kerala Archived from the original on 30 December 2020 Retrieved 8 November 2020 Varsity confers honorary doctorate on CJI Yesudas WebIndia123 19 May 2009 Archived from the original on 17 January 2021 Retrieved 8 November 2020 Saroji Devi Honours Yesudas Archived from the original on 17 January 2021 Retrieved 9 August 2020 Singer Yesudas among 62 chosen for Karnataka Rajyotsava Award Archived from the original on 17 January 2021 Retrieved 13 August 2020 Swaralaya awards presented The Hindu 20 January 2003 Archived from the original on 4 March 2010 Retrieved 18 March 2010 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Swaralaya award for Shankar Mahadevan The Hindu Chennai India 16 December 2007 Archived from the original on 24 April 2008 Retrieved 18 March 2010 Tributes paid to Hemant Karkare The Hindu Chennai India 12 January 2009 Archived from the original on 3 November 2012 Retrieved 18 March 2010 Yesudas gets a Rolls Royce Sify 4 December 2003 Archived from the original on 24 December 2003 Retrieved 26 June 2019 King of Ooh la la land Archived from the original on 2 July 2016 Retrieved 1 September 2016 KJ Yesudas India singer criticised for sexist jeans remark BBC News 3 October 2014 Archived from the original on 15 November 2018 Retrieved 26 January 2017 B Vijayakumar 31 May 2010 Anarkali 1966 The Hindu Archived from the original on 8 November 2012 Retrieved 8 November 2011 Cinestaan Archived from the original on 9 February 2019 Retrieved 7 February 2019 Playlist Ultimate K J Yesudas Malayalam on Hungama com Hungama Music Retrieved 8 August 2022 External links EditOfficial website Tharangni Digital K J Yesudas at IMDb Wikimedia Commons has media related to K J Yesudas Article on Yesudas For me music is God The Tribune 15 October 2005 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title K J Yesudas amp oldid 1131859047, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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