Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam in extremely critical condition, hospital says

Legendary South Indian singer SP Balasubrahmanyam, who had been battling COVID-19 since August and recently tested negative, is in critical condition in a private hospital in Chennai. The music icon, 74, was hospitalised on August 5 and his condition deteriorated in the last 24 hours prompting his doctors to put him on ventilator support, said hospital authorities.

“His condition in the last 24 hours has deteriorated further warranting maximum life support and he is extremely critical. The team of health experts at MGM Health Care are closely monitoring his health conditions,” authorities said in a statement on September 24 evening. In the last few weeks, his family and colleagues took to Twitter to warn his fans of not falling prey to fake news about his health condition.

On September 22, his son SP Charan took to Twitter urging his father’s fans not to believe those social media messages doing the rounds. “Dad continues the steady progress toward getting better. EKMO/ventilator, physiotherapy continue with oral intake of liquids. He has been eager to leaving the hospital as early as possible,” tweeted his son.

The six-time National Award-winning Indian singer has sung over 40,000 songs in more than 15 languages and has worked predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam. He has won several popular awards and State awards in his long-enduring career. The ‘Thanga Thamarai’ singer began his musical career in 1966 and has worked with music composers ranging from AR Rahman to Vishal-Shekhar. He holds the distinction of having recorded 21 songs in 12 hours with Kannada composer Upendra Kumar. He was also a prolific supporting actor, having starred in over 70 films.