Legendary singer SP Balasubrahmanyam and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have been awarded Padma Vibhushan. The second highest civilian award would be conferred to SPB posthumously.
The veteran singer died last year after battling COVID-19 and lung-related ailment for months. The Padma awards were announced today on the occasion of Republic Day 2021.
SP Balasubrahmanyam, who sang more than 40,000 songs in dozen Indian languages, was earlier conferred with Padma Bhushan.
SPB’s sudden demise left his millions of fans in shock.
Padma Bhushan for KS Chitra
Veteran singer KS Chitra, too, has been awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award. Chitra is credited with singing more than 25,000 songs and has received a national film award as the best female singer six times, a record.
Singer Bombay Jayshri will be conferred with a Padma Shri.
