M.S. Subbulakshmi Biography 
M. S. Subbulakshmi was a well known Carnatic vocalist. Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi was her full name. She was the first musician from India to receive Ramon Magsaysay Award which is the highest civilian award of Asia. She got this honor in 1974. She also received Bharat Ratna award from Indian government.
She was born on 16th September 1916 in Madurai, Madras Presidency of British India. Her parents are Shanmukavadiver Ammal and Subramania Iyer. Her grandmother Akkammal was a violinist. M. S. Subbulakshmi was called as Kunjamma by her family. She started to learn Carnatic music at an early age and her guru was Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. She learned Hindustani music under Pandit Narayanrao Vyas. Dr. Nedunuri Krishnamurthy taught her Sanskrit and Telugu.
She belonged to evadasi family and she grew up in a musical environment. She gave her first performance in 1929 in Madras Music Academy when she was just 13 years old. This earned her many admirers. She moved to Madras in 1936. Later she became a famous Carnatic vocalist. When she was 17 she started giving her own concerts. She sang bhajans or hymns.
She acted in few Tamil films also during her young age. Her first movie was Sevasadanam released in 1938. She played the role of Narada in the film Savitri in 1941. She travelled to London, New York, Canada, and many other places and gave her concerts. However when her husband Sadasivam died in 1997, she stopped all public performances.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru denoted her as the Queen of Music. Her famous bhajans include chanting of Bhaja Govindam, Vishnu Sahasranama, Hari Tuma Haro, and Venkateswara Suprabhatam. She was given Padma Bhushan Award in the year 1954, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1956, Sangeetha Kalanidhi award in 1968 and Padma Vibhushan in 1975. She was honored as the court singer of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams. She received honorary doctorate degree from many universities. She died on 11th December 2004.
Published: N/A
Updated: August 13, 2011
