K J Yesudas

"A complete singer" is what people say about Kattassery Joseph Yesudas. In the world of music, Yesudas is truly exceptional - his success in the dual spheres of popular music as well as classical music is unparalleled.

Yesudas was initiated into Carnatik music at a very young age by his father Augustine Joseph. He made his stage debut at age 12, and graduated from the Trivandrum Music Academy in 1958.

Yesudas's success in the world of popular music has been phenomenal. His first playback song was in the movie Kalpadukal in 1961. Besides Malayalam, he sang in all other South Indian languages. In 1976, he started singing for Hindi movies, and films in other North Indian languages. Today he is the only Indian musician to have recorded songs in all Indian languages except Kashmiri and Assamiya.

He received the Padmashri from thePresident of India in 1977. He received the first National Award in 1977 for singing in the film Achanum Bappayum, his second National Award for the film Gayathri, the third National Award in 1978 for film Chitchor, the fourth National Award for the Telugu f ilm Mega sandesham, his fifth National Award for the flm Unnikale Oru Katha Parayaam, and his sixth in 1992 for the film Bharatham.

The film Chitchor also won him a Filmfare Special Award. Alaap got him the Sur Singar Samsad Award and Dada the Filmfare award in 1980. In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate degree from the Annamalai University in recognition for his contributions to music and art. He received the Lata Mangeshkar Award in 1991.
Besides these national awards, Yesudas is the recipient of 16 Kerala State Awards, eight State Awards from TamilNadu, 5 state Awards from Karnataka, four State Awards from Andra Pradesh and one State Award from Bengal. ( Any idea which is the movie? ) In 1992 he received the distinguished honor of "Star of Cochin" from the citizens of Cochin. The government of Kerala has named Yesudas "Asthana Gayakan".

In 1971, Yesudas with his musical troop traveled from one end of Kerala to the other end to raise funds for the Prime Minister's National Defense Fund during the India-Pakistan war. Yesudas is the chairman of the Kerala Academy. He launched a recording studio Tharangini in Trivandrum in 1980, where he records and reproduces the music cassettes. He also started his Tharanga-Nisan music school in Trivandrum. Yesudas became a Senate member in the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, an organization incorporated in the U.S.

After singing in almost all Indian languages in a career that spans four decades and more, the singer has added yet another feather to his cap by lending his voice for the first time to an English album. Ahimsa released recently along with Ricardo Banrrantes, brings talents from the East and West under one roof, with an aim of spreading the message of global peace and harmony.

Though the man is high on popularity, his story is one of rags to riches. Born to singer Augustine Joseph and Elizabeth, Yesudas learned the nuances of classical music from his father. Brought up under great hardship, Yesudas says he owes a lot to God. "I am here only because of God almighty," he said. "With out his mercy I could not have reached this position and achieved what I am today".

During his early days, when he was scoffed at for being a Christian and attempting to learn Carnatic music, and was almost thrown out of the RLV Music Academy for defaulting the monthly fees and when he was found not upto the mark by the All India Radio, Trivandrum, he did not lose heart. It failed to deter the singer in Yesudas from his passion and love for music. He later had special training from the great Carnatic musician Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.

Today,Yesudas has sung more than 20,000 songs in different languages.He has conducted more stage concerts than any other performer in India. In spite of all his success in popular music, he enjoys classical Karnatik music more than any other. He is one of the few singers in the world who sings in the classical idiom as well as he does in the popular.