His
Background:
Kattassery
Joseph Yesudas ,one of the greatest South Indian musicians of all
times, was born on January 10, 1940 in Fort Cochin, Kerala, India.
His father Mr. Augustine Joseph Bagavathor, was a well known malayalam
classical musician and stage actor of his time. His mother, Mrs.
Alikkutty Joseph, devoted her time and energy in bringing up her
children. In his childhood Yesudas had to face a great deal of hardships
because of the meager financial resources of his parents. His father
could recognize the boy's musical talent at a very young age and
decided to provide him musical education at any cost. Augustine
Bhagavathor himself was his first music Guru. The boy was taught
the fundamentals of Carnatic music at the tender age of five. Indian
music world soon began to witness the appearance of a new bright
star in the horizon. Later several music teachers in and around
Cochin gave him valuable guidance he was seeking. It is his passion
for music, hard work and dedication that created the musical
legend we call Yesudas or more intimately "Dasettan".
Music
came as divine grace and paternal inheritance to K.J.Yesudas, one
of India's foremost exponents of classical carnatic vocal music
and leading playback singer in all-Indian languages. His classical
concerts and film songs programs continue to captivate millions
of listeners at home and abroad.
Role
Models:
Shri.Narayana
Guru's great message, "One caste, One Religion and One God
for all Humans", influenced young Yesudas in his dealings with
his fellow men. He had his own heroes among the musicians too. Mohammed
Rafi, Chembai Vaydhyanatha Bhagavathor and Bala Muralikrishna are
the ones he admired the most.
Honors
& Awards:
He
has already sung more than 30,000 songs for thousands of Indian
films in various languages.
In
1965, he was invited by the Soviet Government to perform music concerts
in various cities of the U.S.S.R.
Yesudas
is the recipient of The Kerala State Playback Singing Award 16 times
since 1970.
The
President of India conferred on him the coveted title of Padmashree
in 1973.
Other
titles and prestigious awards he has received include, `Sangeetha
Raja' in 1974, `Sangeetha Chakravarthy' in 1988 and `Sangeetha Sagaram'
in 1989.
He
received the award for the best playback singer for the year 1988
from Tamil Nadu Government and Andhra Pradesh Government respectively.
Annamalai University honored him with a Doctorate in 1989.
The
Government of Kerala and `The Sangeeta Nataka Akademi' conferred
the title of `Aashtana Gayakan' - to Yesudas in 1992.
The
Government of Madhya Pradesh gave the `Annual Latha Mangeshkar Award'
to Sri Yesudas in 1992. Yesudas is the recipient of the 1991 National
Award for the best Playback singer. This is the 6th National award
that Yesudas has received.
The
1992 Tamil Nadu State Government award for the best playback singer
was given to Yesudas. For his unique contribution in the field of
Music, he was selected for the prestigious NATIONAL CITIZENS AWARD
in 1994 .
The
President of India conferred on him the title of Padmashree in 1973
and he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002.
Yesudas
still progress each day towards achieving musical knowledge through
Classical Indian Music, Carnatic Music, Challenging Film and Independent
compositions.
Family:
Dr.
Yesudas and his wife Prabha have three sons, Vinod, Vijay and Vishal.
The family is currently settled in Madras, India. The second son
Vijay Yesudas, is a budding musician .
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