The country bestowed another honour, Padma Bhushan, on KS Chithra (57), the Melody Queen or Chinna Kuyil (little cuckoo) who has enthralled millions of music lovers for four decades with 25,000 songs in 18 languages,.
She dedicated the latest honour to her gurus, parents and music lovers. “I am really humbled. It is an honour for all who worked with me. Also happy my mentor late SP Balasubramanyam got Padma Vibushan,” she said in Chennai, adding the new honour made her more humble and responsible.
The six-time national award winner was introduced to playback singing by music director MG Radhakrishnan in 1980 at the age of 17, and there was no looking back.
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Born in a family of musicians in Thiruvananthapuram, her father late Krishnan Nair was her first guru. But her life changed after Carnatic music teacher and composer Dr K Omanakutty noticed her and groomed her. After her entry in the Malayalam music world in 1980 she switched over to Tamil, Kannada and Telugu movies before entering Hindi.
Her song Kannalane (Kehna hi kya from the film Bombay in 1995) was included in The Guardian’s list of 1,000 Songs to Hear Before You Die. She was honoured with Padma Shri in 2005.
{{/usCountry}}Her song Kannalane (Kehna hi kya from the film Bombay in 1995) was included in The Guardian’s list of 1,000 Songs to Hear Before You Die. She was honoured with Padma Shri in 2005.
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