K.J. Yesudas

KJ Yesudas who was born on 10th January 1940 in Fort Kochi, Kerala is an Indian musician and playback singer who was born as Kattassery Joseph Yesudas. In a career spanning more than fifty years, he has recorded more than one hundred thousand songs in languages such as Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Latin, Russian, and Arabic.

He is regarded by many as one of the best vocalists in Indian music history and a Keralan cultural icon. The record for singing 11 songs in several languages in one day is held by Yesudas. In the 1970s and 1980s, he also wrote several songs for Malayalam films.

Early Life

K. J. Yesudas was born in Kochi, Kerala, to Augustine and Elizabeth Joseph, members of a Latin Catholic Christian family. His father was a well-known classical musician and theatrical actor from Kerala. Yesudas was the second of seven children; the other were four brothers Antony (Antappan), Babu, Mani, Justin, and Jayamma, the younger sister. Pushpa was the older sister who came before Yesudas.

K.J. Yesudas's first guru was musician Kunjan Velu Bhagavathar, who was also Augustine Joseph's closest friend. Nadaswara Chakravarthi T.N. Rajarthnam Pillai was the teacher of Kunjan Velu. Yesudas finished the Ganabooshanam course at R.L.V. Music Academy in Thrippunithura, where he began his academic music training. Later, under the guidance of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and K. R. Kumaraswamy Iyer, two of the greatest musicians in the world, he studied at Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananthapuram. However, financial difficulties prevented him from finishing his studies. He also studied music with Vechoor Harihara Subramania Iyer for a short while before receiving advanced instruction from Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar.

On February 1, 1970, K. J. Yesudas got married to Prabha Yesudas, who came from a religious Malankara Orthodox Christian family in Mallapally.

Personal Life

Prabha and Yesudas got married on February 1st, 1970. Vinod (born 1977), Vijay (born 1979), and Vishal (born 1981) are their three sons. In 2007, 2012, and 2018, their second son Vijay Yesudas, a musician, was awarded the Kerala State Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer.

The teachings of Sree Narayana Guru, which advocated for "One religion and One God for all humanity," had an impact on young Yesudas' interactions with other people. Among the musicians, he also had his own heroes. The three people he most admires are Mohammed Rafi, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, and Balamurali Krishna. On his birthday, Yesudas visited Kollur Mookambika temple in Kollur, Karnataka, to sing keerthans of Saraswati Devi, the goddess of learning, music, and the arts. On his 60th birthday in 2000, the music festival got underway.

Career

In the early 1960s, Yesudas started his career in Kollywood's playback singing. By the mid-1970s, he had made his way into Bollywood.

Debut and Early Career

November 14, 1961, was the day when Yesudas recorded his first hit song, Jaathi Bhedam Matha Dwesham (music by M. B. Sreenivasan). Having been written by none other than Sree Narayana Guru, the most revered saint, poet, and social reformer in Kerala, the singer views those four lines he was given to sing to launch his cinema career as a great blessing. Based on the life and times of Sree Narayana Guru, the 1962 film Kalpadukal was a social reform movie. He was friends with Nambiyath and P. Bhaskaran, two lyricists, as well as well-known vocalists from that era, including P. Leela, Santha P. Nair, K. P. Udayabhanu, and S. Janaki. For this movie, he performed poet Kumaran Asan's lines. Following his early years, renowned music directors of the day, including M. B. Sreenivasan, G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy, Br Lakshmanan, M. S. Baburaj, and many more, began to highly value him. His playback singing career started with this, and it continued with movies in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.

With the popular Malayalam movie Bharya, he received his big break. His performance of popular songs composed by M.S. Baburaj was featured in the 1967, which was directed by P. Venu. Although the first film to be released was Konjum Kumari, he performed in Tamil for Bommai initially. His performance in music concerts in different USSR towns and his performance of a Russian song on Radio Kazakhstan were both extended invitations from the Soviet Union government in 1965. The Malayalam film industry was first penetrated by Salil, Yesudas, and Prem Nazir in the 1970s.

He was the youngest person to hold the position of head of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy when he was nominated in 1970.

Bollywood

In the early 1970s, Yesudas gained recognition in Bollywood following ten years of singing in South Indian films. His first Hindi song was performed for the 1971 film Jai Jawan Jai Kissan; nevertheless, Chhoti Si Baat was the first film to be released, which led to his rise to fame for vocalizing songs like "Jaaneman Jaaneman". He has performed Hindi songs for several well-known Hindi film stars, such as Jeetendra, Amol Palekar, and Amitabh Bachchan. He has sung many timeless Hindi movie songs for music directors like Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Khayyam, Raj Kamal, and Salil Chowdhury.

The 1976 film Chitchor features some of Yesudas' most well-known Hindi songs, which were composed by Ravindra Jain.

UNESCO gave Yesudas an honorary award for "Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace" on November 14, 1999, during the "Music for Peace" event in Paris. The concert was held to celebrate the start of the new millennium and featured performers like Ray Charles, Lionel Richie, Montserrat Caballé, and Zubin Mehta for attendees.

He performed in a variety of styles, including new age and Carnatic, while singing in Sanskrit, Latin, and English on the 2000 CD Ahimsa. Arabic melodies are sung by him in a Carnatic style during his Middle Eastern music concerts. He often promotes Indian music and acts as a cultural ambassador for India through international events.

2009 saw Yesudas launch a nationwide musical campaign in Thiruvananthapuram under the banner "Music for Peace" to combat terrorism. At the beginning of the "Shanthi Sangeetha Yatra," Hemant Karkare's wife Kavita Karkare gave Yesudas the flame. At Soorya Music festival, which is run by Soorya Krishnamoorthy, Yesudas has given 36 performances.

Music Companies

Yesudas established the Tharangani Studio in Trivandrum in 1980. Its office and studio were relocated to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in 1992 later the company was formed in the US in 1998. Tharangni Studio and Tharangni Records emerged as a recording hub that released stereo audio cassettes of songs from Malayalam films for the first time. The record label also maintained a voice mixing facility at Chennai's Studio27. The studio is still producing and presenting Yesudas events for movies and concerts of Indian classical music all over the world.

Awards Won by Yesudas

Yesudas received awards from the state governments of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and West Bengal in addition to the National Film Award for the Best Male Playback Singer, and forty-three State Awards for the Best Playback Singer. For his contributions to the arts, the Indian government granted him the Padma Shri in 1975, the Padma Bhushan in 2002, and the Padma Vibhushan (the second-highest civilian award) in 2017. The J. C. Daniel Award, the highest accolade presented by the Keralan government for achievements in Malayalam cinema, was given to him in 2005.

Yesudas received the CNN-IBN Outstanding Achievement Award in 2011 in recognition of his services to the music industry. At AVM Studio in Chennai in 2006, he sang 16 movie songs in four languages spoken by South Indians on the same day.

Admiration

AR Rahman accepted the Swaralaya Kairali Yesudas Award (2006) and stated, "I'm honored to get this award from my favorite artist, Mr. Yesudas, and I'm deeply touched by Swaralaya's gift. He has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard." He also claimed about Yesudas in an interview that "his voice is unmatched, his voice is god given and I've been hearing his songs since I was 3 years old."

The blind music director, Ravindra Jain, once admitted in an interview that Yesudas would be the first person he would like to see if he were to ever acquire eyesight.

He was given a 1992 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit by entrepreneur and businessman B. R. Shetty in 2003 after attending his concert at The Indian High School in Dubai. Shetty commented: "I was not only touched by his concert but by the man himself who talked about God's kindness to mankind".

In a 2012 interview with Filmfare, Bappi Lahiri stated: "God touches 'Yesudas' voice." He was a different singer who, after Kishore Da (Kishore Kumar), brought out the best in me. He's a mystic and yogi who is passionate about music. He elevates your music to a new level. You can trust him to deliver it correctly the first time, and his note is flawless. Collaborating with him allowed me to reconnect with my musical side. He is less used in Hindi movies. I hope that contemporary Hindi film composers would recognize his brilliance and provide him with projects."

Controversies

When Yesudas said, "Women should not wear the dress that troubles others," during a speech at a public event on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti in October 2014, it caused a stir. You should act more like women and dress modestly. Women's rights and political organizations waved him again after this and demanded that he take down the comment.

Filmography

As an Actor

K.J. Yesudas worked as an actor in many Tamil movies from 1965 to 2015, such as Kavyamela, Anarkali, Nandanam and Theruvu Nakshatrangal.

As a Singer/Composer

• Azhakulla Saleena in 1973
• Theekkanal in 1976
• Sanchari in 1981
• Abhinayam in 1981
• Poocha Sanyasi in 1981
• Ellaam Ayyappan in 1988

Hit Songs of K.J. Yesudas

K.J. Yesudas has some of the hit songs. Some of which are;

1. Deivam Thantha
2. Uravugal Thodarkathai
3. Oru Pullankuzhal
4. Kaatrinile
5. Nilai Maarum Ulagil
6. Enadhu Vaazhkai
7. Oorukkum Vetkammilai
8. Nalla Manam Vaazhga

Conclusion

K J Yesudas is a virtuoso in the big symphony of life, his story is a monument to an extraordinary journey that strikes a chord with the harmonies of brilliance, tenacity, and commitment. Yesudas has left a lasting impression on the history of Indian music, from the soulful strains of his early years in the musically rich region of Kerala to the international stage, where his voice became a celestial song. He has become a legendary voice due to his unmatched skill at playback and classical singing and his unwavering dedication to his craft. But despite all of the praise and recognition, Yesudas's humility and spiritual foundation are evident, they show a strong sense of kinship with the divine and a great regard for it.