Covid-19: Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam critical, put on ventilator support

Chennai, Aug 14: Veteran singer-actor S P Balasubrahmanyam, who had tested positive for coronavirus is critical and he remains on ventilator support, a statement from the hospital said.

The 74-year-old singer, who has worked across Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam film industries has been admitted at MGM healthcare since 5th August.

"There has been a setback in the health of Playback Singer S P Balasubrahmanyam (in file pic) who had been admitted at MGM Healthcare for symptoms of COVID since 5th August," the hospital bulletin said.

"In a late-night development on 13th Aug, Balasubrahmanyam's condition had deteriorated and based on the advice of expert medical team attending to him, he has been moved to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and he is on life support and his condition remains critical," it added.

Since his singing debut in 1966 with the Telugu film "Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna", Balasubrahmanyam has bagged multiple National Awards and recorded over 40,000 songs in 16 Indian languages.

The singer went on to become superstar Salman Khan's on-screen voice, crooning popular tracks for him in films like "Maine Pyaar Kiya" (1989), "Saajan" (1991) and 1994 blockbuster "Hum Aapke Hai Koun...!".