Tennakoon Mudiyanselage Jayaratne, commonly known as T. M. Jayaratne (), born 13 April 1944 in Dodanwala,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

is a popular Sri Lankan

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and a

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

. He has received the Presidential Award of Sri Lanka in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1987. In 2006 Jayaratne was awarded the best male singer award at the Raigam Tele Award Festival.

Life and career

Overview

Jayaratne studied at

St. Anthony's College, Kandy St. Anthony's College, Kandy (, ) is a Catholic School, Roman Catholic School in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The college was established in 1844 by the Franciscan missionary, Felice Zoppi. The college is under the management of the Sylvestr ...

and

Maliyadeva College Maliyadeva College () is a national school controlled by the Sri Lankan central government. It is located in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka, and was established in 1888 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society, led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. It is on ...

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

. He was drawn into singing by the head of the Folk and Research unit at the Broadcasting Corporation C.J.S. Kulathilaka who asked him to vocalise several Sinhala folk songs that included "Gana Thel Sadun" to be broadcast over the radio. He recorded his first song in 1970. Jayaratne debuted as a playback singer with "Lahiru Dahasak" written by Sunil Ariyarathne and composed by

Premasiri Khemadasa Deshamanya Kala Keerthi Dr. Premasiri Khemadasa ( Sinhala: ආචාර්ය ප්‍රේමසිරි කේමදාස ) (25 January 1937 – 24 October 2008) also known as "Khemadasa Master" was a Sri Lankan music composer. Explorin ...

. In 1978 he released his first cassette ''Tharanga Volume - 01''. At present, he has given his golden voice to 79 films. Among these films,

Bambaru Awith ''Bambaru Avith (The Wasps are Here)'' () is a 1978 Sri Lankan Sinhala drama film directed by Dharmasena Pathiraja and produced by director himself with Thilak Godamanne for Saranga Salaroo. It explores tradition and exploitation following the ...

Dharmasena Pathiraja Pathiraja Navaratne Wanninayake Mudiyanselage Ranjith Dharmasena (28 March 1943 – 28 January 2018) was a Sri Lankan film director and screenwriter. He has been referred to as a 'rebel with a cause', an ‘''enfant terrible'' of the '70s', and ...

and Hansa Vilak of

Dharmasiri Bandaranayake Dharmasiri Bandaranayake (born 6 October 1949) is a Sri Lankan film director and playwright. Particularly working as a playwright, Bandaranayake is an artist who attempts to connect the sociopolitical environment with the civil society through ar ...

are considered one of the best-ever films in Sri Lankan history. In 1980 Jayaratne dueted with Sunila Abeysekera on "Hemin Sare Piya Vida" for the movie ''Hansa Vilak''. The song was written by

with music by

and became a popular song in Sri Lanka. His duets with Neela Wickramasinghe also became hugely popular hits. Also he has composed music for some songs but he achieved fame as a talented vocalist.

Personal life

Jayaratne is married to Malini Jayaratne and has two children. His son Isuru Jayarathne is also a singer.

References

External links

T.M Jayarathna LyricsT.M Jayarathna SongsT.M Jayarathna Albums
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayaratne, T. M. 1944 births Living people 20th-century Sri Lankan male singers Alumni of Maliyadeva College Sinhalese singers