Swarnalatha (29 April 1973 – 12 September 2010) was an Indian playback singer. She is considered to be as Humming Queen Of India and Nightingale Of Tamil Cinema. In a career spanning almost 22 years (from 1987 until her death), she recorded over 10,000 songs in many Indian languages, including

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, Oriya,

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, and Badaga. she is referred to as Swarangalin Arasi. She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her rendition of the song "Porale Ponnuthayi" from the film ''

Karuththamma ''Karuthamma'' is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language drama film produced and directed by Bharathiraja from a story by M. Rathnakumar. The film stars Raja, Rajashree and Maheswari, with Saranya, Periyar Dasan, Ponvannan, Vadivukkarasi, Vaani, Vadiv ...

''. The song was composed by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

, under whose musical direction she recorded many memorable songs. She was also the first female playback singer to get a National Award In

Music.National award winning playback singer Swarnalatha passes away
Asian Tribune, Tue, 14 September 2010 03:25

Personal life

She was born in Kerala, to K. C. Cherukutty and Kalyani. Her father was a harmonium player and singer. Her mother also had interest in music. Swarnalatha was trained to play harmonium and keyboard. Swarnalatha's family later moved to Bhadravathi in Shivamogga District,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

where she had her education. She started singing at the age of 3. Surrounded by a family of musicians and music lovers, Swarnalatha was trained in Carnatic and Hindustani music. Her sister Saroja was her first music teacher.

Career

Swarnalatha's family moved to

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 ...

to seek opportunities in the film industry for her singing talent. The first opportunity came from

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

in 1987, when she performed a duet with K. J. Yesudas, "Chinnachiru Kiliye" in the film '' Neethikku Thandanai''. Subsequently, she was approached by many other music directors to perform songs under their baton. She also had the opportunity to work with director

P. Venu P. Venu (8 November 1940 – 25 May 2011), was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and lyricist with over 20 films to his name.His directorial venture Udhyogastha in 1967 was the first-ever multi-star cast film of the south Indi ...

. She was recruited by musicians like

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one o ...

and

. She also recorded a few Hindi songs, the most notable one being "Hai Rama Yeh Kya Hua" from the film '' Rangeela'' with singer Hariharan. In Telugu, she recorded more songs under the music direction of Mani Sharma,

Ramana Gogula Ramana Gogula (born Gogula Ramana Murthy) is an Indo-American music composer and singer of film music and Indian pop, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. His notable film compositions include '' Premante Idera'' (1998), ''Thammudu'' (1999), ' ...

Raj–Koti Thotakura Somaraju and Saluri Koteswara Rao, popularly known as Raj–Koti were Indian film music composers, singer-songwriters, record producers, musicians and multi-instrumentalists duo in Telugu cinema, In a notable career spanning a decade, ...

, and

Vandemataram Srinivas Kanneboina Srinavasa Rao Yadav, known professionally as Vandemataram Srinivas, is an Indian music director and playback singer who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has won two Filmfare Awards and six Nandi Awards. He got the prefix "Van ...

. They include the immensely popular songs like Raamma Chilakamma, Osey Ramulamma, and Nizam Babulu. A. R. Rahman employed Swarnalatha for many of his songs. She was one of the most versatile singers of her times, as she was able to sing melodies like "Maalayil Yaaro Manathodu Pesa" from ''

Sathriyan ''Chatriyan'' () is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film, written and produced by Mani Ratnam under Aalayam Productions. The film was directed by K. Subash, an assistant of Mani Ratnam. The film stars Vijayakanth, Bhanupriya and Thil ...

'' or "Porale Ponnuthayi" from '' Karuthamma'' as well as Rahman's experimental songs like " Mukkabla" from '' Kadhalan'' or "Mottu Vittadha" from ''

Pavithra ''Pavithra'' is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language drama film written, produced and directed by K. Subash under his home banner, Dhanooja Films. The film stars Raadhika, Nassar, Ajith Kumar and Keerthana. It was released on 2 November 1994, Diwali ...

''. Swarnalatha was the first female playback singer to fetch the National Award under

's music direction. She received the award for the song "Porale Ponnuthayi". She recorded many songs with music directors

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People *Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) * Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director * ...

Harris Jayaraj Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Telugu and two films in Hindi. He has been honoured with K ...

, Anu Malik, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy,

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

, Mani Sharma,

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

and many others. She recorded all the songs originally rendered by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her con ...

and Shamshad Begum for the Tamil movie ''Anarkali'' (the dubbed version of the Hindi movie '' Mughal-e-Azam'') and was praised by the Bollywood music director Naushad Ali, which she considered the best moment in her career. Television She was part of Few Music Reality shows in early 2000s. In a 2001 Vijay TV reality show and in 2004 Jaya TV Ragamalika show as judge.

Death

Swarnalatha died at Malar Hospitals Ltd Adayar,

at the age of 37, on 12 September 2010. She had Idiopathic lung disease.

Awards and recognitions

National Award ( Silver Lotus Award)-( Rajat Kamal) *

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

– National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for "Porale Ponnuthayi" from ''

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

* 1991 –

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for wh ...

for "Povomma Oorkolam" from '' Chinna Thambi'' * 1994 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for "Porale Ponnuthayi" from ''

'' * 2000 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback for "Evano oruvan" from '' Alaipayuthey'' Cinema Express Awards * 1991 – Best Female Playback Singer for "Povomma Oorkolam" from '' Chinna Thambi'' * 1995 – Best Female Playback Singer for "Muquala Muqapala" from '' Kadhalan'' * 1996 – Best Female Playback Singer for "Akkadannu nanga" from ''

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

'' * 1999 – Best Female Playback Singer for "Ulunthu vidaikayile" from '' Mudhalvan'' * 2000 – Best Female Playback Singer for "Yevano Oruvan " from '' Alaipayuthey'' Government Honour * 1994–

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government o ...

Award by the Government of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

Recognition * 2002 – The song "Rakkama Kaiya Thattu" from the movie '' Thalapathi'' (1991) was among the songs listed in a BBC World Top Ten music poll. It was performed by S. P. Balasubrahmaniyam and SwarnalathaBBC World Service 70th Anniversary Global Music Poll: The World's Top Ten.
2002. Retrieved 5 February 2011.

Frequent collaboration

;Ilaiyaraja She has sung over 200 songs for Ilayaraja and marked as one of the noted combinations in 90's. 'Povomaa Oorkolam' and 'Nee Yengae Enn Anbae' from the film Chinnathambi were hits. Government of Tamil Nadu honoured her with the award of Best Singer for the song 'Povomaa Oorkolam'. The song 'Raakkamma Kayyathattu' from the film ''Thalapathi'' figured in BBC's ''Hits List of World Songs''. She had sung several experimental songs for Ilayaraja such as "Sollividu VelliNilave', "Kanne Indru Kalyana Kathai" and "Ennai Thottu Allikonda". ;A. R. Rahman

and Swarnalatha association started from the year 1993. Their Combination is known for the magical songs such as "Mukkala Mukkabala", "Hai Rama yeh kya hua", which are the hit songs of 90's. She was the first female singer to receive National Award under Rahman's Music for the song "Porale ponnuthayi" from karuthama released in the year 1994. She has sung nearly 80 songs for

Rahman Rahman (Arabic: or ) may refer to: *Rahman, one of the names of God in Islam *Ar-Rahman, the 55th sura of the Qur'an People *Rahman (name), an Arabic male personal name **Short form of Abd al-Rahman * Rahman (actor) (born 1967), Indian actor * ...

Discography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1973 births 2010 deaths Indian women playback singers Tamil singers Malayalam playback singers Respiratory disease deaths in India Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Filmfare Awards South winners Tamil playback singers Kannada playback singers Telugu playback singers Recipients of the Kalaimamani Award 20th-century Indian singers People from Palakkad district Singers from Kerala Film musicians from Kerala Women musicians from Kerala 21st-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers Best Female Playback Singer National Film Award winners Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis