File photo of S P Balasubrahmanyam from Instagram (courtesy ispbofficial)

Music legend S P Balasubrahmanyam died on Friday at a Chennai hospital. He was 74. Tributes poured in on social media for SPB, as he was popularly known as, with an emotional tweet from Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. S P Balasubrahmanyam was the voice behind several hit songs of Salman Khan, the first of which was for the soundtrack of 1989 movie Maine Pyar Kiya. Remembering Mr Balasubrahmanyam and his legacy of work, Salman Khan tweeted: “Heartbroken to hear about S P Balasubrahmanyam sir… you will forever live on in your undisputed legacy of music! Condolence to the family #RIP.” S P Balasubrahmanyam is survived by his wife Savitri, daughter Pallavi, and son S P Charan, who is a producer and a singer.

Heartbroken to hear about #SPBalasubrahmanyam sir… you will forever live on in your undisputed legacy of music! condolence to the family #RIP

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) September 25, 2020

S P Balasubrahmanyam was admitted to Chennai hospital MGM Healthcare on August 5 for coronavirus. After several weeks, he tested negative but continued to remain on the ventilator. On Thursday, the hospital’s medical bulletin revealed that he was on maximum life support, soon after which, Salman Khan wished him speedy recovery in a tweet. “Balasubrahmanyam sir, all the strength hope wishes from the bottom of my heart to a speedy recovery. And thank you for every song you sang for me and made special,” wrote Salman and signed off the tweet as Prem – his character from Maine Pyar Kiya – “Your Dil Dewana hero Prem. Love you, sir.”

Bala Subramaniam sir . All the strength hope wishes from the bottom of my heart to a speedy recovery n thank u for every song u sang fr me n made special your dil dewana hero prem, Love u sir.

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) September 24, 2020

S P Balasubrahmanyam was the voice of songs featuring Salman Khan for movies such as Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Andaz Apna Apna, Patthar Ke Phool and Chandra Mukhi. For Mr Subrahmanyam’s frequent collaboration with the actor, SPB came to be known as the ‘voice of Salman’ in Bollywood just as he was identified with Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan in the South film industry.

Apart from Salman Khan’s tribute, S P Balasubrahmanyam has also been remembered fondly by Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Lata Mangeshkar, Anil Kapoor, Hema Malini, among others.