New Delhi: National Award-winning veteran playback singer Vani Jairam passed away at the age of 78. As per the Thousand Lights Police officials, the singer was found dead at her residence in Chennai. She was conferred with Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, for this year. Details regarding her death are awaited.
Tamil Nadu | Veteran playback singer Vani Jairam found dead at her residence in Chennai, say Thousand Lights Police officials. Details awaited.
She was conferred with the Padma Bhushan award for this year.
(Pic: Vani Jairam’s Facebook page) pic.twitter.com/TEMHbHw11s
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2023
The singer passed away at her residence at Haddow Roads, Nungambakkam and reportedly, she had injuries on her forehead.
I rang the bell five times at Vani Jairam’s residence. But she didn’t open the door. Even my husband called her up but she didn’t receive the call. It’s only she who stays at this residence: Malarkodi, Vani Jairam’s maid pic.twitter.com/zspzpKhEGg
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2023
Vani recently completed her 50 years as a playback singer. She has more than 10,000 songs in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Oriya, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Bangla, Marathi and Tulu. The singer has worked with many noted music composers in the country, including Ilaiyaaraja, RD Burman, OP Nayyar, Kv Mahadevan and others.
Her accolades include three National Film Awards in the Best Female Playback Singer category and State Awards from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Gujarat.
Vani Jairam was born into a family of Indian classical musicians and started her playback career with ‘Jeevanaadi’ in 1970. Her big break came with ‘Guddi’ in 1971, which won her the Tansen Award and laid the foundation of her singing career that lasted over five decades. Her last notable works came in the Tamil and Malayalam film industries in 2019.
While she was a trained Carnatic singer, she also sang Hindustani music in Hindi films in the 70s and 80s.
Vani Jairam’s husband, Jairam, breathed his last in 2018.
