SPB Was Music’s Mind Reader

Paying glowing tributes to legendary singer S P Balasubrahmanyam on the occasion of his birth anniversary, one of India's greatest music composers, Ilaiyaraaja, on Thursday said that no one understood a composer's vision faster, and no one poured more focus into a song than SPB.

Taking to his X timeline to post an audio clip that contained his thoughts on his close friend S P Balasubrahmanyam, Maestro Ilaiyaraaja wrote, "No one understood a composer's vision faster, and no one poured more focus into a song than SPB. Celebrating the life, friendship, and the unmatched achievement of 50,000 songs. Happy Birthday, SPB."

In the clip that he posted, Ilaiyaraaja said, "Balu's absence has created a vacuum in my heart. That is because there is no other voice equal to his. Even those voices that attempt to copy his voice aren't singing correctly. His voice cannot be copied. How can his involvement be copied?"

Stating that Balasubrahmanyam's involvement in the song, his ability to create and his talent to reproduce the song were separate, Ilaiyaraaja said, "It cannot be explained by words."

Pointing out that so far, most of the male songs in his music had been sung by SPB, Ilaiyaraaja said that it was not because of SPB's fame, but because of his talent, his ability to understand the music composition very fast and his knowledge of knowing what emotion had to come from the song.

"He will sing the song in a very focussed manner and he will put more effort in to the song. Whatever expectations I had, he fulfilled. He is wonderful. More than that, he is my best friend. Apart from that he was an outstanding talent among the playback singers so far," Ilaiyaraaja said, and added, "Singing more than 50,000 songs is no ordinary thing. It is a very great achievement in the world of music. Nobody has achieved that achievement."

Stating that matters that happen beyond words and imagination were wonderful, Ilaiyaraaja said nobody had been able to even come close to SPB, despite so many singers arriving on the scene and added that they hadn't been able to even deliver one hundredth of what he delivered. "Long live the fame of SPB," he said and concluded the clip.