Tamil singing legend TMS dies after brief illness

Chennai, May 25: Veteran Tamil playback singer T M Soundararajan passed away at his residence in Chennai today following a brief illness.

Thuguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Sounderarajan was the choice of Tamil cinema icons M G Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan and dominated the playback scene for nearly six decades. In that period he sang for all leading heroes of South Indian cinema.

The 91-year-old singer is survived by his wife and two sons. He was not keeping well for sometime and had recently undergone treatment for breathlessness at a private hospital in Mylapore.

TMS, as Sounderarajan was popularly known, had rendered nearly 10,000 cinema and devotional songs. Soundarajan had last sung in the theme song of the World Classical Tamil Conference in 2010, composed by A R Rahman.

He had unique distinction of singing the song that was first stereo recording in South India.

TMS was also known for his soul-stirring devotional songs, especially on Lord Muruga. He was also very good in imitating actors voice and that helped him in singing for many leading actors.

He had acted in some films and hailed from Madurai (born on March 24, 1922 ). He had been awarded various honours including the Padmashri and the state government's 'Kalaimamani'. TMS was a music director of a film called 'Bala Parikshai'.

OneIndia News