Radha (born 1932) and Jayalakshmi (1932 - 2014), popularly known as Radha Jayalakshmi ( ta, ராதா ஜெயலட்சுமி), were an Indian

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It ...

vocalist duo as well as

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not ap ...

s in films in the 1940s and 1950s. They later became teachers and trained notable Carnatic music singers. Jayalakshmi was the playback singer of the duo, but was credited as Radha Jayalakshmi in the cine field. Radha was her cousin and singing partner on stage performances. They were early vocalists in the duo singing trend in

which started in the 1950s and includes performers like Bombay Sisters and

Soolamangalam Sisters Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ஜெயலட்சுமி) and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ராஜலட்சுமி), popularly known as Soolamangalam Sisters ( ta, � ...

. In recent times, the trend has been continued by popular Carnatic music singers like Priya Sisters, their disciples, Ranjani Gayatri, Akkarai sisters, and others. The duo was awarded the 1981

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

in Carnatic Music – Vocal, given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Drama Vidushi Jayalakshmi died in Chennai on 27 May 2014.

Early life and training

Radha and Jayalakshmi's singing style belongs to the

G. N. Balasubramaniam Gudalur Narayanaswamy Balasubramaniam (6 January 1910 – 1 May 1965), popularly known as GNB, was an Indian Carnatic singer. He innovated the art through emphasis on ''laya ''control and reducing the ''gamakas'' which eventually made Carnatic ...

school, and they received their training in classical vocal music from the noted vocalist and teacher himself.

Career

Jayalakshmi has rendered songs in her trained, cultured and 'ringing' sweet voice in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada movies from the late 1940s to the early 60s. She also has a few playback singing credits from the 1970s. In Deivam,

Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan (2 March 1935 – 8 September 2008) was an Indian classical music violinist and music composer. Early life Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan was born on 2 March 1935 and was trained by his father, Ramaswamy Sastry. He was the brother ...

had both Radha and Jayalakshmi render ''Thiruchendooril Por Purindhu'', a devotional song set in Thiruthani. This is perhaps the only film song sung by Radha of the duo. But both have given stage performances throughout India. The singers had no longer been giving performances towards the time of Jayalakshmi's death, but instead had shifted their efforts to teaching Carnatic music and were regarded as great teachers. Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya, popularly known as the Priya Sisters, were their students.

Music composers Jayalakshmi sang for

Jayalakshmi's most memorable songs date from the 50s films.

Playback singers Jayalakshmi sang with

Jayalakshmi was often paired to sing with the male singers T. M. Soundararajan,

Seerkazhi Govindarajan Sirkazhi Govindarajan (19 January 1933 – 24 March 1988) was an Indian Tamil Carnatic vocalist and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema. Early life Govindarajan, was born on 19 January 1933 at Sirkazhi (a small town in present day M ...

and A. M. Rajah. Other male singers she sang with include T. A. Mothi, Ghantasala,

S. Balachander Sundaram Balachander (18 January 1927 – 13 April 1990) was an Indian veena player and filmmaker. He directed, produced, and also composed music for a few of his films. Balachander was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1982. He died of a hear ...

Thiruchi Loganathan Thiruchi Loganathan (24 July 1924 – 17 November 1989) was a playback singer of the Tamil film industry. He is known for his work in movies such as ''Manthiri Kumari'' (1950) and '' Parasakthi'' (1952). He was married to Rajalakshmi, daughter ...

, K. Prasad Rao, V. N. Sundaram, Subrahmanyam and

Pithapuram Nageswara Rao Pithapuram Nageswara Rao (5 May 1930 – 5 March 1996) was an Indian playback singer who worked in the early period of Telugu cinema. He sang thousands of songs, mostly of a comedic nature, in the 1950s and 1960s along with Madhavapeddi Satya ...

. She also sang duets with female singers, most notably with P. Leela and

Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ஜெயலட்சுமி) and Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi ( ta, சூலமங்கலம் ராஜலட்சுமி), popularly known as Soolamangalam Sisters ( ta, � ...

. Others are

M. L. Vasanthakumari Madras Lalitangi Vasanthakumari (popularly referred to as MLV) (3 July 1928 – 31 October 1990) was a Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. MLV and her contemporaries D. K. Pattammal and M. S. Subbulak ...

, P. A. Periyanayaki, N. L. Ganasaraswathi, A. P. Komala, T. V. Rathnam, M. S. Rajeswari,

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

, K. Rani and

Jikki Pillavalu Gajapathy Krishnaveni (3 November 1935 – 16 August 2004), more famously known as Jikki, was an Indian playback singer from Andhra Pradesh. She sang around 10,000 songs in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Sinhalese langua ...

. The singing actors she sang with were K. R. Ramasamy and S. Varalakshmi.

Death

Jayalakshmi of the duo, died, aged 82, in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

on 26 May 2014.

Filmography

References

External links

Radha Jayalakshmi
at

last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...

Radha Jayalakshmi songs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayalakshmi, Radha Women Carnatic singers Carnatic singers Indian women playback singers Malayalam playback singers Indian musical duos Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Voice teachers Tamil playback singers Tamil singers Sibling musical duos Indian women classical singers 20th-century Indian singers Indian music educators Telugu playback singers 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women singers Women music educators 20th-century women educators