His
Background:
Kattassery
Joseph Yesudas ,one of the greatest South
Indian musicians of all times, was born on
January 10, 1940 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.
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 awards 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 recipient 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 .
The
President of India conferred on him the title
of Padmashree in 1973 and he was awarded the
Padma Bhushan in 2002.
Yesudas
still progress each day towards achieving
musical knowledge through Classical Indian
Music, Carnatic Music, Challenging Film and
Independent compositions.
Family:
Dr.
Yesudas and his wife Prabha have three sons,
Vinod, Vijay and Vishal. The family is currently
settled in Madras, India. The second son Vijay
Yesudas, is a budding musician .
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