Kattassery
Joseph Yesudas was born on January 10th 1940 in Fort Kochi,
the ancient port city of Kerala. His father Augustine Joseph was himself a well-known singer and stage actor
who rode the Kerala stage like a colossus for over a quarter of a century. Eldest
of the four sons and one daughter of the Joseph couple, Yesudas took to music
at a very early age. His first Guru was his beloved father himself, who
lovingly and painstakingly led little Yesudas through the basic precepts of
Carnatic Music while he was hardly five years old.
From there,
the budding singer took lessons under several musical wizards in and around
Cochin and Chennai namely Kunjan Velu
Aasan, P.X.Joseph, Sivaraman Nair, Ramankutty Bhagavathar, K.R.Kumaraswamy,
Chemmangudi Srinivasaiyer, Chembai Vaidyanahtha Bhagavathar, and Pallavi Narasimha Achariya. He nurtured
his native talents with discipline, dedication and determination.
At the St.
Sebastian's High School, Pallurthi, Kochi, Yesudas was the top singer for
several consecutive years in 1957; he stood first in the school state level
youth festival in Carnatic vocal. In 1958, he was the recipient of gold medal
in vocal singing at the all Kerala Catholic Youth Festival held at Ernakulam.
After
School, Yesudas joined R.L.V. Music
Academy, Tripunithura near Cochin for the Ganabhooshanam course, which he
completed with a double promotion and distinction in 1960. Meanwhile, the young
singer joined the Sree Swathithirunal Music Academy, Trivandrum, for higher
studies. But he could not complete the course due to financial problems at
home.
On 14th
November 1961 Yesudas recorded his voice for a film for the first time. It was
a verse written by Sri Narayana Guru,
the sage of the backward classes of Kerala. " Jaathi Betham Mathadwesham
Ethumillatha Sarvarum Sotharathwena Vazhunna Mathruka Sthaanamaanithu."
The lyrics of the simple song conveyed a great meaning. It read: This is a
model place where all the people live like brothers and sisters unaffected by
the difference of caste and the enmities of religion". Truly a message in
national integration . For Yesudas, for Kerala and for India, it was an
auspicious day and an auspicious beginning.
He got the
first break in his music career with the hit Malayalam film named Bharya ( music by G. Devarajan and lyrics by Vayalar Ramaverma).
In 1967, he sang hit songs in the composition of M.S.Baburaj for the film Udhyogastha directed by P. Venu. He sang in Tamil for Bommai first (music: S. Balachander), but the first
released movie was Konjum
Kumari (Music : Veda).
The trio of Salil, Yesudas and Prem Nazir (the evergreen hero of Malayalam
Cinema) took the Malayalam Cinema Industry of the 1970s by storm. It was
generally agreed that Yesudas's voice was the most suited one for Prem Nazir.
In 1970 he
was nominated to head the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and was the youngest person ever to
occupy the post.
In 1968, he
was invited by the Soviet Government to perform as a cultural delegate in
various parts of U.S.S.R. While in Russia, he sang a Russian song over Radio Kazakhstan,
which was widely appreciated by local fans.
He's one of
the few Indian Artists to have performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London; and the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, respectively in 2001 and 2006.
In 1965 when China attacked
India and a war broke out he sung in various centers to raise funds for the war
efforts. Again in 1971, when the war over Bangladesh broke out, he took to the
streets in an open truck and traveled the entire length and breath of Kerala
collecting funds to help the nation, to tide over the crises. A large sum of
money was thus collected. Yesudas later presented the money to Mrs.Indira
Gandhi, the then Prime Minister at a special function in New Delhi. Mrs. Indira
Gandhi congratulated and thanked the singer for taking the message of India's
integrity and national pride to the people on the street through the medium of
his singing and for bringing the sentiments of the people of Kerala to the
capital in the form of their collective contribution towards war-chest, and at
a time when the media such as television and radio were not as big as it is
now.
By the 1970s
Yesudas entered Bollywood. The first Hindi song he sang
was for the movie Jai Jawan
Jai Kissan (1971), but the
first released movie was Chhoti
Si Baat. He has sung Hindi songs for many leading actors in Hindi cinema
including Amitabh Bachchan, Amol
Palekar and Jeetendra.
He has sung many evergreen Hindi film songs for music directors including Ravindra
Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Khayyam,
Rajkamal and Salil Chowdhury.
Yesudas's
most popular Hindi songs are in the 1976 movie Chitchor, with music given by Ravindra
Jain. The greatest tribute to Yesudas was paid by Ravindra
Jain, in an interview wherein the blind music director confessed that if
ever he happened to regain vision, the first person he would like to see would
be Yesudas.
Yesudas has
performed in many major cities around the world. 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. Yesudas became
one of the senate members in the International Parliament for Safety and
Peace. On 14 November 1999,
Yesudas was presented with an honorary award by 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.
In 1971, during the Indo-Pakistani
War, Yesudas travelled all around Kerala with his musical troupe to raise
funds for the Indian prime minister's National Defense Fund.
In 2001 he
sang for album Ahimsa in Sanskrit, Latin and English and in a mix of styles including new-age and Carnatic. In his music concerts in the Middle
East he sings Arabic songs in the Carnatic style. He frequently serves as a cultural
ambassador for India through his performances abroad, promoting Indian music.
In 2009
Yesudas began a cross-country musical campaign against terrorism in
Thiruvananthapuram, with the motto 'Music For Peace'. Kavita
Karkare, wife of Hemant Karkare, handed over the torch
to Yesudas to mark the launch of the 'Shanthi
Sangeetha Yatra'.
In 1980 Yesudas established the Tharangani Studio at Trivandrum. In 1992 the office and
studio were moved to Chennai, Tamil Nadu 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 Studio27,
Chennai. The studio continues to produce and present events of Yesudas both for
film and Indian classical
music concerts throughout the world.
Yesudas is married to Prabha.
They have three sons, Vinod, Vijay and
Vishal. Their second son Vijay Yesudas is a musician who won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 2007 and 2013. The family is currently settled in Chennai and Trivandrum. He
also owns estates in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida, USA and Flower Mound, Texas, USA for personal and business reasons.
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 five decades.
Yesudas has won the National Award for the Best Male Playback Singer Seven times (the most by any Indian singer), 5 Filmfare Awards and the State Award for the Best Playback Singer 43 times, which consists
of awards by the State Governments of Kerala,
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal. He was awarded the Padma Sri in 1975 and the Padma Bhushan in 2002 by the Government of India for his contributions towards the arts. In
2011 Yesudas was honoured with the CNN-IBN outstanding
achievement award having recorded over 50,000 songs in a five-decade career. In
2006, he sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages
on the same day at AVM Studio, Chennai.
“Yesudas
is fondly called Gana Gandharvan (The Celestial Singer)”
Here are some Best Hindi
Songs sung by YESUDAS :
Aaj Se Pehle, Chand Jaise
Mukhde Pe, Dheere Dheere Subah Huyee, Dil Ke Tukde Tukde, Gori Tera Gaon, Jab
Deep Jale Aana, Kaha Se Aaya Badra, Madhuban Khushboo Deta Hai, Mana Ho Tum, O
Goriya Re, Sunayna, Surmayee Akhiyon Mein, Tu Jo Mere Sur Mein, Tujhe Dekh Kar,
Zid Na Karo……………
Just Click Here
Just Click Here
Respect
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