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K J Yesudas Biography: Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian music and also as a cultural icon of Kerala.
| Name: | Yesudas (Kattassery Joseph Yesudas) [Other names: Dasettan, Gana Gandharvan] |
| Born: | 10 January, 1940 – Fort Kochi, Kingdom of Cochin, British India (present-day Kochi, Kerala, India) |
| Occupation: | Singer, Composer, Music Producer |
| Spouse(s): | Prabha |
| Instrument(s): | Vocals |
| Awards: |
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Kattassery Joseph Yesudas or K J Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and a leading playback singer.
His voice lends itself well to both Indian classical, devotional and popular songs. He has recorded more than 40,000 songs in many languages, including Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English through his long career.
He has been singing for most Indian languages, except Assamese and Kashmiri. In his heyday, he was known as the Jim Reeves of South India. Fans term his voice as nothing short of “divine“.
Ka karu Sajni – K J Yesudas (Won Filmfare award for this song) :: Raga: Sindh Bhairavi :: Movie: Swami :: Music Composer: Rajesh Roshan
K J Yesudas: Early Life And Background
K J Yesudas was born in Fort Kochi, Kerala, to Augustine Joseph and Elizabeth. His father, who was a well-known Malayalam classical musician and stage actor, was his first guru. Later, he joined the Music Academy in Thrippunithura and underwent training.
For a brief period, he was with Sri Vechur Hari Hara Subramania Iyer, after which he took training from Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, a maestro of classical music. Although he is a Carnatic music expert, he mastered in Hindustani music as well.
Career:
Yesudas began his career in playback singing in Kollywood in the early 60’s; and by mid 70’s, he entered Bollywood. He has bagged seven National Film Awards for the best singer category in the Indian film industry. In 2006, he sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages on the same day at AVM Studio, Chennai.
Yesudas has performed in many major cities around the world. In his music concerts in the Middle East, he sings Arabic songs in the Carnatic style. He frequently dons the role of a cultural ambassador of India through his numerable performances abroad by promoting Indian music.
He is the only singer who has been accorded the title Asthana Gayakan (official singer) of Kerala state. He has been awarded the Padma Sri (1973) and Padma Bhushan (2002).
In 1965, he was invited by the Soviet Union government to perform at music concerts in various cities in the USSR and also sang a Russian song over Radio Kazakhstan. In 1970, he was nominated to head the Sangeetha Nataka Academy of Kerala and was the youngest person ever to occupy that post.
Surmayee Ankhiyon Mein – K J Yesudas :: Movie: Sadma (1983) :: Music Composer: Iliyaraaja
In 1971, Yesudas with his musical troupe travelled all over Kerala to raise funds for the Indian Prime Minister’s National Defense Fund during the Indo-Pakistan War. He also became the senate member in the International Parliament for Safety and Peace.
He has taken the words of Sree Narayana Guru, “One Religion, One Caste for all humans” to heart. On November 14, 1999, Yesudas was presented with an honorary award by the UNESCO 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 Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Montserrat Caballé, and Zubin Mehta.
His unparalleled record of winning state awards for best singer in five regional languages of India and winning National awards for best singer seven times in three languages places him among the most versatile singers India has ever seen.
Chaand Jaise Mukhde Pe Bindiya Sitara – K J Yesudas :: Film: Sawan Ko Aane Do (1979) :: Music Composer: RajKamal
Role Models:
Shree Narayana Guru’s great message, “One caste, One religion and One God for all Humans“, influenced young Yesudas in his dealings with his fellow men. He had his own heroes among the musicians too. Mohammed Rafi, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar and Balamurali Krishna are the ones he admired the most.
Scholarship:
He completed the Ganabooshanam course at R.L.V. Music Academy, Thripunithura, Cochin. And he graduated from the Sree Swathithirunal Music Academy, Trivandrum. Trained under well-known musicians like K.R. Kumaraswamy (former principal of the Music College, Kochi), Kunjuvelan Aasan (a disciple of Nagaswera Vidwan Rajaratnam Pillai), Augustine Joseph, Ramakutti Bagavathar, Sivaraman Nayar, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, Yesudas was the audience’s favourite from day 1.
Madhuban Khushboo Deta Hai – K J Yesudas & Anuradha Paudwal :: Film: Saajan Bina Suhagan
K J Yesudas: Personal Life
K J Yesudas is married to Prabha for more than 30 years. They have three sons, Vinod, Vijay and Vishal. The second son Vijay Yesudas, is a budding musician. The family is currently settled in Chennai and Kerala. He also owns estates in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, and Flower Mound, TX, USA, for personal and business reasons.
Music Company:
In 1980, Yesudas established the Tharangni Studio at Trivandrum. In 1992, the office and studio were moved to Chennai 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 Malayalam film songs in stereo. The record company also had a voice mixing studio in Chennai, Studio27. The studio continues to produce and present events of Yesudas, both for film and Indian classical music concerts throughout the world.
K J Yesudas Unknown Facts:
- Yesudas has performed at the classical concert for 36 times in the 36-year-old Soorya Music festival organized by Soorya Krishnamoorthy. This is one among his concerts which is highly followed by serious musical lovers and often rated as the most popular among his concerts in India.
- Producer Raman Nambiyath introduced Yesudas as a playback singer in the film Kaalpaadukal on Nov 14, 1961.
- After winning the Kerala State Award for Best Playback singer on numerous occasions, he asked his name to be removed out of contention so as to give his fellows and newcomers a chance of winning the award. Despite his request, he was still given this award several times in the following years.
- Yesudas made his debut as music director in the Malayalam movie, Azhakulla Seleena (1973).
- Harivarasanam, the devotional song recited before closing the temple at Sabarimala is sung by Yesudas. Though there have been many different renditions of this song by many different renowned singers, Sabarimala officially uses Yesudas’ voice for Harivarasanam even today.
- Yesudas is known as Gana Gandharvan for his continuous contributions to music.
- Swaralaya Yesudas award is a prestigious award for music artists in recognition of their outstanding performance. The award is instituted jointly by Swaralaya, an organization that promotes music and Kairali Channel, based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Awards have been given annually since 2000. Yesudas presents the awards at a Gandharva Sandhya every January.
- Yesudas has won National film awards 8 times for playback singing, the most awards won by any singer.
- He has recorded more than 70,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Malay, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English during a career spanning more than five decades.
- He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1975 and the Padma Bhushan in 2002 by the Government of India for his contributions towards the arts.
