KJ Yesudas
"Music is my forte and I do not mind much about the language"
---Yesudas
"A complete singer" is what people say about Kattassery Joseph Yesudas. In the world of music, Yesudas is truly exceptional - his success in the dual spheres of popular music as well as classical music is unparalleled.
Yesudas was initiated into Carnatik music at a very young age by his father Augustine Joseph. He made his stage debut at age 12, and graduated from the Trivandrum Music Academy in 1958.
Yesudas's success in the world of popular music has been phenomenal. His first playback song was in the movie Kalpadukal in 1961. Besides Malayalam, he sang in all other South Indian languages. In 1976, he started singing for Hindi movies, and films in other North Indian languages. Today he is the only Indian musician to have recorded songs in all Indian languages except Kashmiri and Assamiya.
He received the Padmashri from thePresident of India in 1977. He received the first National Award in 1977 for singing in the film Achanum Bappayum, his second National Award for the film Gayathri, the third National Award in 1978 for film Chitchor, the fourth National Award for the Telugu f ilm Mega sandesham, his fifth National Award for the flm Unnikale Oru Katha Parayaam, and his sixth in 1992 for the film Bharatham.
The film Chitchor also won him a Filmfare Special Award. Alaap got him the Sur Singar Samsad Award and Dada the Filmfare award in 1980. In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate degree from the Annamalai University in recognition for his contributions to music and art. He received the Lata Mangeshkar Award in 1991.
Besides these national awards, Yesudas is the recipient of 16 Kerala State Awards, eight State Awards from TamilNadu, 5 state Awards from Karnataka, four State Awards from Andra Pradesh and one State Award from Bengal. ( Any idea which is the movie? ) In 1992 he received the distinguished honor of "Star of Cochin" from the citizens of Cochin. The government of Kerala has named Yesudas "Asthana Gayakan".
In 1971, Yesudas with his musical troop traveled from one end of Kerala to the other end to raise funds for the Prime Minister's National Defense Fund during the India-Pakistan war. Yesudas is the chairman of the Kerala Academy. He launched a recording studio Tharangini in Trivandrum in 1980, where he records and reproduces the music cassettes. He also started his Tharanga-Nisan music school in Trivandrum. Yesudas became a Senate member in the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, an organization incorporated in the U.S.
After singing in almost all Indian languages in a career that spans four decades and more, the singer has added yet another feather to his cap by lending his voice for the first time to an English album. Ahimsa released recently along with Ricardo Banrrantes, brings talents from the East and West under one roof, with an aim of spreading the message of global peace and harmony.
Though the man is high on popularity, his story is one of rags to riches. Born to singer Augustine Joseph and Elizabeth, Yesudas learned the nuances of classical music from his father. Brought up under great hardship, Yesudas says he owes a lot to God. "I am here only because of God almighty," he said. "With out his mercy I could not have reached this position and achieved what I am today".
During his early days, when he was scoffed at for being a Christian and attempting to learn Carnatic music, and was almost thrown out of the RLV Music Academy for defaulting the monthly fees and when he was found not upto the mark by the All India Radio, Trivandrum, he did not lose heart. It failed to deter the singer in Yesudas from his passion and love for music. He later had special training from the great Carnatic musician Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.
Today,Yesudas has sung more than 20,000 songs in different languages.He has conducted more stage concerts than any other performer in India. In spite of all his success in popular music, he enjoys classical Karnatik music more than any other. He is one of the few singers in the world who sings in the classical idiom as well as he does in the popular.
One of the greatest South Indian musicians of all times, was born in Fort Cochin, Kerala, India. His father Mr. Augustine Joseph Bagavathor, was a well known malayalam classical musician and stage actor of his time . His mother, Mrs. Alikkutty Joseph, devoted her time and energy in bringing up her children. In his childhood Yesudas had to face a great deal of hardships because of the meager financial resources of his parents. His father could recognize the boy’s musical talent at a very young age and decided to provide him musical education at any cost. Augustine Bhagavathor himself was his first music Guru. The boy was taught the fundamentals of Carnatic music at the tender age of five. Indian music world soon began to witness the appearance of a new bright star in the horizon. Later several music teachers in and around Cochin gave him valuable guidance he was seeking. It is his passion for music, hard work and dedication that created the musical legend we call Yesudas or more intimately "Dasettan".
Music came as divine grace and paternal inheritance to K.J.Yesudas, one of India’s foremost exponents of classical carnatic vocal music and leading playback singer in all-Indian languages. His classical concerts and film songs programs continue to captivate millions of listeners at home and abroad.
Kattassery Joseph Yesudas was born on January 10, 1940 in Fort Cochin, the ancient port city of Kerala. His father, Augustine Joseph was himself a well-known singer and stage actor who rode the Kerala stage like a colossus for over a quarter of a century. Eldest of the four sons and one daughter of the Joseph couple, Yesudas took to music at a very early age. His first Guru was his beloved father himself, who lovingly and painstakingly led little Yesudas through the basic precepts of Carnatic Music while he was hardly five years old. From there, the budding singer took lessons under several musical wizards in and around Cochin and nurtured his native talents with discipline, dedication and determination.
Yesudas is a reciepent of the Padmabhushan Award from the president of India and progress each day towards achieving musical knowledge through Classical Indian Music, Carnatic Music, Challenging Film and Independent compositions.
Role Models:
Shri.Narayana Guru’s great message, "One caste, One Religion and One God for all Humans", influenced young Yesudas in his dealings with his fellow men. He had his own heroes among the musicians too. Mohammed Rafi, Chembai Vaydhyanatha Bhagavathor and Bala Muralikrishna are the ones he admired the most.
Honors & Awards
He has already sung more than 30,000 songs for thousands of Indian films in various languages. In 1965, he was invited by the Soviet Government to perform music concerts in various cities of the U.S.S.R. Yesudas is the recipient of The Kerala State Playback Singing Award 16 times since 1970. The President of India conferred on him the coveted title of Padmashree in 1973. Other titles and prestigious awrds he has received include, `Sangeetha Raja' in 1974, `Sangeetha Chakravarthy' in 1988 and `Sangeetha Sagaram' in 1989. He received the award for the best playback singer for the year 1988 from Tamil Nadu Government and Andhra Pradesh Government respectively. Annamalai University honored him with a Doctorate in 1989. The Government of Kerala and `The Sangeeta Nataka Akademi' conferred the title of `Aashtana Gayakan’ – to Yesudas in 1992. The Government of Madhya Pradesh gave the `Annual Latha Mangeshkar Award’ to Sri Yesudas in 1992. Yesudas is the receipient of the 1991 National Award for the best Playback singer. This is the 6th National award that Yesudas has received. The 1992 Tamil Nadu State Government award for the best playback singer was given to Yesudas. For his unique contribution in the field of Music, he was selected for the prestigious NATIONAL CITIZENS AWARD in 1994
Family
Dr. Yesudas is happily married to Prabha for more than 30 years. They have three sons, Vinod, Vijay and Vishal. The second son Vijay Yesudas, is a budding musician . The family is currently settled in Madras, India and visit Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA time and again for business reasons.
Dedicated to: All Fans of Yesudas
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