. Website Signature Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian musician and playback singer. Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional and cinematic songs. He has recorded in a number of, including, and as well as, and, during a career spanning more than five decades. Yesudas has performed in most Indian languages except for,.
The BBC artist page for K. Find the best clips, watch programmes, catch up on the news, and read the latest K. Yesudas interviews. Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian classical musician and playback singer. Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular.
He has also composed a number of Malayalam film songs during the 1970s and 1980s. Yesudas won the for the record eight times, the five times, and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer forty-three times, including awards given by the state governments of,. He was awarded the in 1977, the in 2002, and the (second-highest ) in 2017 by the for his contributions towards the arts. In 2011 Yesudas was honoured with the outstanding achievement award having recorded over 50,000 songs in a five-decade career. In 2006, he sang 16 film songs in four languages on the same day at AVM Studio,. Contents. Early life K.
Yesudas was born in, in the erstwhile (now ), in a Christian family to late and late Elizabeth Joseph. His father, a well-known classical musician and stage actor, was his first (teacher). Yesudas was the eldest of five children, and was followed by three younger brothers and a younger sister. He started his academic music training at,. Later he studied at, under the tutelage of the carnatic music maestro late Sh. Kumaraswamy Iyer and the late but could not complete his studies due to financial constraints. For a brief period, he also studied music under Sri Vechur Harihara Subramania Iyer, after which he took advanced training from.
He completed the Ganabooshanam course at R.L.V. Music Academy, Thripunithura, and continued studies at Sree Swathithirunal Music Academy, under the tutelage of the carnatic music maestro late Sh. K.R.Kumaraswamy Iyer.
In 2011 Yesudas completed his 50 years as a playback singer. Career Debut and early career: 1960s. Yesudas with poet and lyricist Yesudas recorded his first popular song Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music: ) on 14 November 1961. However, his first popular song was 'Attention Penne Attention', which he sang for a Malayalam film with, a veteran singer of that time. Thus began his career in which included the Malayalam movie Kaalpadukal (1962) and Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies thereafter. He got the first major break with the hit Malayalam film named ( music by and lyrics by ). In 1967, he sang hit songs in the composition of M.S.Baburaj for the film directed.
He also sang in for first (music: ), but the first released movie was (music: Veda). In 1965, he was invited by the Soviet Union government to perform at music concerts in various cities in the and also sang a Russian song over Radio Kazakhstan. The trio of Salil, Yesudas and entered the Malayalam Cinema Industry of the 1970s.
In 1970 he was nominated to head the and was the youngest person ever to occupy the post. Bollywood: 1970s After a decade of singing in South Indian movies, Yesudas got a break in in the early 1970s. The first Hindi song he sang was for the movie Jai Jawan Jai Kissan (1971), but the first released movie was, which resulted in his becoming popular for singings songs like 'Jaaneman Jaaneman'. He has sung Hindi songs for many leading actors in Hindi cinema including,. He has sung many evergreen Hindi film songs for music directors including, Rajkamal.
Yesudas' most popular Hindi songs are in the 1976 movie Chitchor, with music given. On 14 November 1999, Yesudas was presented with an honorary award by for 'Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace' at the 'Music for Peace' event in Paris.a concert held to mark the dawn of the new millennium and whose attendees included artistes such as,.
In 2001 he sang for album Ahimsa in, and English and in a mix of styles including and Carnatic. In his music concerts in the Middle East he sings songs in the style. He frequently serves as a cultural ambassador for India through his performances abroad, promoting Indian music. In 2009 Yesudas began a cross-country musical campaign against terrorism in Thiruvananthapuram, with the motto 'Music For Peace'.
Kavita Karkare, wife of, handed over the torch to Yesudas to mark the launch of the 'Shanthi Sangeetha Yatra'. Yesudas has performed for 36 times in the 36-year-old Soorya Music festival organised. Personal life Yesudas is married to Prabha at Santa Cruze Basillica Kochi.
They have three sons, Vinod, Vijay and Vishal. Their second son is a musician who won the in 2007 and 2013. A statue of sponsored by Yesudas at Chembai gramam in Palakkad; next to Bhagavatar's house. ’s great message, 'One religion and One God for all humanity', influenced young Yesudas in his dealings with his fellow men. He had his own heroes among the musicians too., and are the ones he admires the most. Yesudas has been visiting, Karnataka on his birthday to sing keerthans of, the Goddess of knowledge, music and the arts. The music festival started on his 60th birthday in 2000.
The nine-day music festival begins every January at Kollur Mookambika Temple. On Sunday, 10 January 2010, he celebrated his 70th birthday (Sapthathi) at Kollur Sri Mookambika Temple with 'Sangeetharchana' (classical devotional songs), along with 70 singers before goddess Mookambika. The Sangeetharchana included 'Pancharatna Gayana' of Thyagaraja's poems.
He also took part in the Vidyarambha function. Broadcast the special Sangeetharchana all over Kerala. Yesudas also has many songs devoted to Lord Ayyappa including the hit song 'Harivarasanam'. In 2002, during, he visited the place along with the veteran poet, and conducted classes against violence., a devotional song musical version composed by, recited before closing the temple at was sung by Yesudas. Though there have been many different renditions of this song by many different renowned singers, officially uses Yesudas' voice for every day. Music company In 1980 Yesudas established the at Trivandrum.
In 1992 the office and studio were moved to, Tamil Nadu and the company was incorporated in the US in 1998. Tharangni Studio and Tharangni Records became a recording center in Kerala which, for the first time, brought out audio cassettes of songs in stereo.
The record company also had a voice mixing studio in Studio27, Chennai. The studio continues to produce and present events of Yesudas both for film and concerts throughout the world.
Awards and honours. The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Vibhushan Award to Dr.
Yesudas, at the Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on April 13, 2017 Yesudas has recorded over 80,000 songs and has won scores of accolades including the coveted (1975), (2002), (2017) and eight National Awards for Best Playback Singer. He is the only singer who has been accorded the title Asthana Gayakan (official singer) of. a record 8 times by the Government of India. a record 25 times for the best playback singer by the Government of.
5 times for the best playback singer by the Government of. 4 times for the best playback singer by the Government of. 1 time for the best playback singer by the Government of. from., 2002 by The Indian Fine arts Society, Chennai. is a prestigious award for music artists in recognition of their outstanding performance. The award is instituted jointly by Swaralaya, an organisation that promotes music and, based in, Kerala. Awards have been given annually since 2000.
Yesudas presents the awards at a Gandharva Sandhya every January. Admiration In his acceptance speech of winning the Swaralaya Kairali Yesudas Award (2006), said 'I'm greatly honoured by Swaralaya's gesture, and getting this award from my most favourite singer Mr Yesudas.
He is one of my most favourite voices' ever in the world.' , in an interview wherein the blind music director confessed that if ever he happened to regain vision, the first person he would like to see would be Yesudas. Said in an interview with in 2012: 'Yesudas’ voice is touched by God. After Kishoreda, he was another singer who brought out the best in me.
He is a yogi, a mystic who lives for music. He takes your tunes to another level. And his note is perfect, you can rely on him to deliver it right the first time. Working with him made me touch base with my melodious side. He is vastly under-utilised in Hindi films.
I wish Hindi film composers of today realise his genius and offer him assignments.' Controversies On 2 October 2014, Yesudas sparked a row while speaking at a public function on the occasion of, where he stated that 'Women should not wear jeans and trouble others. You should dress modestly and do not behave like men'. This resulted in a number of protests from Women's Rights and Political organizations, who asked him to withdraw the comment. He again hit the news headline by making another controversial statement in 2017 on ‘Selfies’ he said “boys and girls rubbing shoulders to take selfies’ is not culturally right!”.
His statement faced huge backlash on social media. Filmography As Actor Year Film Stars Director Role Language 1965 as himself 1966 as Khader 1966, as Tansen 1973 as singer 1977 as singer 1977 as singer 1980 Dasarathan as singer 1981 as saint 2002 as himself 2005 as himself 2012 Jose Maveily as himself Discography. Chennai, India. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
Chennai, India:. 3 September 2002.
Retrieved 2009-08-19. 1 February 2001. Retrieved 2009-08-19. Retrieved 28 June 2018. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
17 December 2011. Retrieved 2016-09-01. Chennai, India: The Hindu.
1 December 2006. Retrieved 2010-05-01. Archived from on 5 December 2011. Asianet india. Archived from on 24 January 2012. 19 February 2001.
Archived from on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2011. Vineet Pillai (15 November 2003). Archived from on 31 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-01. 13 January 2009. Chennai, India: The Hindu.
12 January 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-01. Ajay Gosh. Archived from on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
Non Resident Kerala Associations. Archived from on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2010. Oneindia Entertainment.
19 January 2009. Archived from on 11 July 2012.
Retrieved 2010-05-01. PTI (10 January 2012). Chennai, India: The Hindu.
Retrieved 2010-05-01. The New Indian Express. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-01. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
Archived from on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014. Ministry of Home Affairs.
Archived from on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014. Archived from (PDF) on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2017. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title.
20 January 2003. Archived from on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010. Chennai, India:. 16 December 2007.
Retrieved 18 March 2010. Chennai, India:. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2010. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
Retrieved 2017-01-26. Vijayakumar (31 May 2010).
Retrieved 2011-11-08. External links. Wikimedia Commons has media related to. 15 October 2005.
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