S P Balasubrahmanyam with A R Rahman. (Image courtesy: arrahman)

New Delhi:

Veteran singer S P Balasubrahmanyam’s death has left a void in the music industry which can never be filled. The 74-year-old singer, who was admitted to Chennai’s MGM Healthcare hospital on August 5 after testing positive for COVID-19, died on Friday. His death left the South film industry heartbroken with a flood of emotional posts inundating social media. The tributes were led by actor Kamal Haasan, one of S P Balasubrahmanyam’s most frequent collaborators. He tweeted: “It’s my good fortune that I was the shadow image of S P Balasubrahmanyam’s voice for a long time. His fame will live for 7 generations.” S P Balasubrahmanyam was identified as the voice of three actors, Kamal Haasan among them – the other two are Rajinikanth and Salman Khan.

pic.twitter.com/9P4FGJSL4T

— Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) September 25, 2020

Music maestro AR Rahman, who worked closely with S P Balasubrahmanyam in many films starting with Rahman’s 1992 debut Roja, shared a picture of himself and the singer and tweeted: “Devastated.”

#ripspb …Devastated pic.twitter.com/EO55pd648u

— A.R.Rahman (@arrahman) September 25, 2020

Actor Dhanush mourned the veteran singer with these words: “RIP, SPB sir. The voice which will echo in everyone’s house forever, a family member in every household. Your voice and you will continue to live with us for generations to come. My condolences to his family and dear ones. Thank you, sir for everything sir. You will be dearly missed.”

Rip SPB sir the voice which will echo in everyone’s house forever, a family member in every household. Ur voice and U will continue to live with us for generations to come. My condolences to his family and dear ones. Thank you sir for everything sir. you will be dearly missed

— Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) September 25, 2020

Actor Mahesh Babu, in his eulogy piece, wrote: “Unable to process the fact that S P Balasubramaniam garu is no more. Nothing will ever come close to that soulful voice of his. Rest in peace sir. Your legacy will live on. Heartfelt condolences and strength to the family Folded hands.”

Unable to process the fact that #SPBalasubramaniam garu is no more. Nothing will ever come close to that soulful voice of his. Rest in peace sir. Your legacy will live on. Heartfelt condolences and strength to the family

— Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh) September 25, 2020

Rajinikanth’s daughter, filmmaker Soundarya, tweeted: “Rest in peace, SPB sir.”

#RIP SPB sir pic.twitter.com/1jFLezzZph

— soundarya rajnikanth (@soundaryaarajni) September 25, 2020

“Rest in peace sir. You will forever be the voice of eternal love… My condolences and prayers to the family and fans,” tweeted actress Aditi Rao Hydari, who works in both the Hindi and South industries.

Rest in peace sir. You will forever be the voice of eternal love… My condolences and prayers to the family and fans… #RIPSPB#SPBalasubramaniam

— Aditi Rao Hydari (@aditiraohydari) September 25, 2020

S P Balasubrahmanyam was admitted to MGM Healthcare hospital on August 5 after he was diagnosed with coronavirus. Despite testing negative for COVID-19 at the beginning of this month and showing improvement, SPB could not be taken off the ventilator. His condition worsened on Thursday and he died in hospital on Friday afternoon.

S P Balasubrahmanyam, winner of six National Awards, had a vast body of work that spans 40,000 songs in 16 languages. He worked extensively with Ilaiyaraaja, A R Rahman and other composers. He was also an actor, producer and voice actor. Mr Balasubrahmanyam received the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan.