Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), commonly known as SPB or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer.

[11] He predominantly worked in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films and sang in a total of 16 languages.

He discontinued his studies early due to typhoid and joined as an associate member of the Institution of Engineers, Chennai.

It was rendered by veteran playback singer P. B. Sreenivas, who used to write and give him multi-lingual verses in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, English and Urdu.

[43][44] He recorded his first Tamil song "Athaanodu Ippadi Irundhu Eththanai Naalaachu", a duet with L. R. Eswari under the musical direction of M. S. Viswanathan for the film Hotel Ramba, which never released.

The song "Medante Meda Kaadu" from the film Sukha Dukhalu (1968) composed by Kondandapani brought him recognition in Telugu cinema.

[45] Other early songs he sang were duets with P. Susheela, "Iyarkai Ennum Ilaya Kanni" in the 1969 film Shanti Nilayam, starring Gemini Ganesh, and "Aayiram Nilavae Vaa" for M. G. Ramachandran in Adimaippenn.

[47] As per Balasubrahmanyam, "Ye Divilo Virisina Parijathamo" from the 1973 Telugu film Kannevayasu composed by Satyam gave an amazing turning point to his singing career.

In the early days, he used to sing in towns and villages all over south India and Ilaiyaraaja, then an unknown harmonium and guitar player accompanied him in his concerts.

[54] Directed by K. Viswanath, the film's soundtrack was composed by K. V. Mahadevan and led to an increase in the usage of Carnatic music in Telugu cinema as well as in other languages.

[57] Balasubrahmanyam began to record more songs in Telugu and other South Indian languages, especially for Ilaiyaraaja with S. Janaki, the trio considered to be highly successful in the Tamil film industry from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.

[60] The soundtrack for the film won a Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song Dil Deewana.

[64][65] In the 1990s, he worked with composers such as Vidyasagar, M. M. Keeravani, Hamsalekha, S. A. Rajkumar and Deva among others, but his association with A. R. Rahman turned out be a major success.

Other popular songs include "July Maadham" from Pudhiya Mugam, which also marked the debut of singer Anupama,[67] "Mannoothu Manthayilae" from Kizhakku Cheemayile which was a folk number and he almost sang all songs in the musical love story Duet and "Thanga Thaamarai" from Minsara Kanavu which fetched him, the sixth and latest of his National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer to date.

[71] In May 2020, SPB crooned a song on humanity titled "Bharath Bhoomi" which was composed by Ilaiyaraaja as a tribute to the people such as police, doctors, nurses and janitors who have been significantly working amid COVID-19 pandemic.

[75] He has also provided voice-overs for various artists, including Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Vishnuvardhan, Salman Khan, K. Bhagyaraj, Mohan, Anil Kapoor, Girish Karnad, Gemini Ganesan, Arjun Sarja, Nagesh, Karthik and Raghuvaran in various languages.

[79] Balasubrahmanyam hosted and judged Telugu musical reality TV show Padutha Theeyaga, which marked his television debut.

[83] Balasubrahmanyam was married in 1969 to Savithri and has two children, a daughter Pallavi, and a son S. P. Charan, also a playback singer and film producer.

[88][89] His son Charan provided periodic updates over social media, while members of the Tamil film industry engaged in a mass prayer via Zoom on 20 August and candlelight vigils were held by fans outside the hospital.

[90] Similarly many actors of Telugu film industry urged people to pray for his life, many Tollywood music composers also organised virtual mass prayers.

[95] Throughout his career, Balasubrahmanyam has won awards not only for playback singing, but also for music direction, acting, dubbing and producing.