Philip V. Francis Biography 
Philip V. Francis is regarded as a true genius in the field of music though he didn’t rise to stardom. He was known as a famous singer from Thrissur who sings both ghazals and Christian devotional songs. He was also known as a music compsoser and tabla player. He met with an accident in 2008 and died at a comparatively younger age of 43 when he was at the peak of his career. He was survived with his wife and son. Thoovana, Ninakkai Nadha Kanneer, Philip-Sangeeth Ka Amar Sur, Kabir and Abheri & Bhimpalas are his released albums of both ghazals and devotional songs. He was a close friend of Pradip Somasundaram from Thrissur, best known as the winner of India’s first reality show on television – Meri aawaz suno in the mid-1990’s. As a musician, Baburaj, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Madan Mohan were his great inspirations.
Born in Thrissur in 1964, he started his musical journey as a drum player in the local orchestra group Neelambari. Slowly he learnt the rhythms of music. Later he learnt tabla from Ustad Fiyaz Khan of the Delhi gharana. His passion to music prompted him to move to Delhi to study music. He also learnt carnatic music and mrudangam, though it was not carried for a long period. Instead he concentrated on to western music, guitar and piano and started composing songs.
Then he started performing for choirs in churches and gained instant popularity as a ghazal singer. He also worked with music director Raveendran as his assistant. He was a regular performer of Doordarshan, All India radio as well other television channels. In his memory, an organization was formed by music lovers of Thrissur named ‘Piano’ which plans to conduct annual music festivals in Thrissur.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 14, 2014
