K.J. Yesudas

Dr. Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born January 10, 1940), is a noted South Indian musician and a leading playback singer for songs in many Indian languages. His film songs, mostly in Malayalam, continue to please millions throughout the world. He was born in Fort Kochi, Kerala to Augustine Joseph and Elizabeth Joseph. His father, who was his first guru (teacher), was a well known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor of his time. Yesudas is a Malayali singer, and exponent of Carnatic Music. He joined the Music Academy in Thirupunithura and won a gold medal for music at a local competition in Fort Kochi at age 7. He later trained under the legendary Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar in Classical Music, and this training, abruptly cut short by the guru's demise in 1974, still stood him in good stead. His first song as a playback singer (non-Hindi movie) was for the movie Kalpadukal (1961). His first Hindi song was for the movie Anand Mahal, with music given by Salil Chowdhury who shared a long standing relation with the singer. Fondly remembered songs of the duo include songs from movies such as Nellu, Vishukkani, Chuvanna Chirakukal, Ee Gaanam Marakkumo - to name a few. The trio combination of Salil-Yesudas and Prem Nazir (the evergreen hero of Malayalam Cinema) took the Malayalam Cinema Industry of the 70's by storm. As a matter of fact, it was generally agreed that Yesudas's voice was the most ideal one for Prem Nazir. Yesudas's most popular Hindi songs are from the 1976 movie Chitchor, with music given by Ravindra Jain. The greatest tribute paid to him is cited during an interview with Ravindra Jain, wherein the blind music director confessed that if he ever happened to regain vision, the first person he would like to see was Yesudas. Yesuds's greatest association in Hindi was with Ravinder Jain and the duo combined to produce memorable including Oo Goriyare (from the film Naiyya - directed by Prashanth Nanda),Sunayna (from the film Sunayna. The film in which Yesudas sang the most memorable Hindi songs is claimed to be Saawan ko aane do with music given by the notable late Shri Raj Kamal. Songs like Jaanam, Chand jaise mukhde pe (from Saawan Ko Aane Do), Kahan se aaye badra (from Chashme Bud door) etc leave the lover of modern songs spell bound. During an interview with Spice Music Channel, he told the interviewer that a song he sang for the unreleased Hindi movie 'Tansen' was his all time favorite song in Hindi. Yesudas, a talent discovered by Salil Chowdry and nurtured by Ravindra Jain, has sung more than 30,000 songs for thousands of Indian movies in many languages including Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu and Bengali through his long career. He was also invited by the Soviet Government to perform at music concerts in various cities of the U.S.S.R in 1965. Dr. Yesudas and his wife Prabha have three sons, Vinod, Vijay and Vishal. The family is currently settled in Chennai, India. DR.K J YESUDAS is a passion and inspiration for all Keralites,eventhough he is well known all over South Asia.His humble beginning,the hardships he had gone through,the immense success he achieved in life,the dedication he is still having,etc,etc. underlines the above stated fact. Yesudas was awarded Padmashree (in 1973) and Padma Bhushan (in 2002). Titel and Awards: * Seven National Awards for the best Playback singer. * The Kerala State Playback Singing Award 16 times since 1970. * Padmashree by President of India in 1973. * Sangeetha Raja by Chembai in 1974. * Sangeetha Chakravarthy in 1988. * Sangeetha Sagaram in 1989. * Best playback singer for the year 1988 from Tamil Nadu Government and Andhra Pradesh Government respectively. * Annamalai University honored him with a Doctorate in 1989. * Government of Kerala and `The Sangeeta Nataka Akademi' conferred the title of "Aashtana Gayakan" in 1992. * Government of Madhya Pradesh gave the "Annual Latha Mangeshkar Award" in 1992. * NATIONAL CITIZENS AWARD in 1994 * GAANA GANDHARVA By people arround Country * Won Tamil Nadu state awards five times in 1977-78,1981-82,1988,1989 & 1992 * Won Andra Pradesh state awards 3 times in 1982,1988&1990.