Popular playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam passes away at the age of 74

Popular playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam passed away on Friday, his son SP Charan informed the media. Addressing the media personnel at the gates of the hospital, SPB's son said that his father passed away at 1:04 pm and thanked all those who prayed for the singer's recovery.

The 74-year-old Balasubrahmanyam, popularly known as SPB, admitted on August 5, "remains on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) and other life support measures," MGM Healthcare had said on Thursday.  "His condition in the last 24 hours has deteriorated further warranting maximal life support and he is extremely critical," Assistant Director (Medical Services), MGM Healthcare, Dr Anuradha Baskaran said in a statement.

SPB's condition deteriorated on August 13

The singer, who was admitted to the hospital had initially tested positive for COVID-19, however, his health deteriorated for the first time on August 13, late night and he was put on life support and moved to the Intensive Care Unit. On August 19, he was put on ECMO besides ventilator and a day after, when he remained critical, people from all walks of life, including celebrities and the general public, came together to pray for his early recovery and his condition stabilised soon.

Towards the end of last month, he underwent passive physiotherapy and later "actively participated in physiotherapy" and he was fully awake and responsive during that phase.

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Balasubrahmanyam, who has to his credit over 40,000 songs, has sung in languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. During admission, he had symptoms of cold and intermittent fever for a couple of days and had even posted a video in which he sounded confident.

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