Legendary singer SPB will be laid to rest with full police honours

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced that the mortal remains of famous playback singer and Padma awardee SP Balasubrahmanyam popularly known as SPB or Balu in the cine world and who recorded over 40000 songs in 16 languages over a period of five decades will be laid to rest with full police honours to add to his fame and glory as he had found a place in the hearts of the people across IndiaSPBs son SP Charan on Friday afternoon confirmed the demise of the legendary singer Speaking to the media outside the MGM Healthcare Hospital he said Balasubrahmanyam passed away at 104 pm and thanked the hospital officials for the treatment and serviceThe singers body was taken to his residence after embalming for public homage in the evening A large number of people gathered at his residence here to have a last glimpse of the singer and pay their respects Later in the evening his body was taken in a van to his farmhouse at Thamaraipakkam near here where the last rites will be heldEnroute several people stood on the pavement and bade SPB a tearful goodbye Earlier MGM Healthcare in a statement said In a further setback this morning despite maximal life support measures and the best efforts of the clinical team his condition deteriorated further and he suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest With profound grief we regret to inform that he has passed away on September 25 at 1304 hoursThe hospital said Balasubrahmanyam was on life support measures since August 14 for severe Covid19 pneumoniaOn August 5 in a Facebook post the 74yearold SPB said that he was suffering from a very mild attack of coronavirus and had got himself hospitalised to take restHe had said that though the doctors had advised him to stay at home and take rest he decided to be in a hospital as at home his family members would get concernedHe hoped to get discharged from the hospital in two days But it was not to beFor a brief period he showed some improvement in his health condition and had tested negative for coronavirus on September 4But on Thursday the hospital said his condition was extremely criticalSince Thursday the indications about Balasubrahmanyam were not goodOn Thursday MGM Healthcare said the singer remains on ECMO and other life support systemsHis condition in the last 24 hours has deteriorated further warranting maximal life support and he is extremely critical The team of experts at MGM Healthcare are closely monitoring his health condition the hospital had saidSince Friday morning a large number of police personnel were deployed outside the hospitalThe singers family members were present at the hospitalDirector Bharathiraja after visiting the iconic singer at the hospital told the media at this time of grief he was not able to say anythingIt was movie director Venkat Prabha who first tweeted about the singers deathPrabha tweeted RIPSPB 104pm announcing the sad newsMeanwhile political leaders across the country President Ram Nath Kovind Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit Chief Minister K Palaniswami Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam DMK President MK Stalin MDMK General Secretary Vaiko PMK Founder S Ramadoss and Chief Ministers of several other states mourned the singers deathActor Rajinikanth tweeted Balu sir you have been my voice for many years your voice and your memories will live with me forever I will truly miss you I have no words to say There can be one and only Balu Sir I have sung a couple of songs with Balu Sir in Tamil movies In those days the recording used to be live and it was interesting He encouraged me a lot Some months back I had met him He enquired about my family and me playback singer Jency told IANS from Ernakulam in KeralaKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news