T. S. Radhakrishnan (born 5 November 1957), popularly known as ''Radhakrishnaji'', is an Indian composer and music producer of
devotional music
A devotional song is a hymn that accompanies religious observances and rituals. Traditionally devotional music has been a part of Hindu music, Jewish music, Buddhist music, Islamic music and Christian music.
Each major religion has its own tra ...
and
film music
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...
from
Ernakulam,
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
. He has composed over 300 devotional albums.
His albums have been collaborations with leading Indian singers such as
K. J. Yesudas,
P. Leela
Porayathu Leela (19 May 1934 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian playback singer, Carnatic vocalist and a music director. She has recorded more than 5,000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, ...
,
P. Susheela
Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...
,
S. Janaki
Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...
,
P. Jayachandran,
K. S. Chithra,
Hariharan,
Manjari,
Unni Menon
Unni Menon (born 2 December 1955) is an Indian film playback singer. He has recorded over 4000 songs in many Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.S.S.KavutaA melodious journey The Hindu. Retrieved 29 November 2008 In ...
, among others.
He has collaborated on more than 200 albums. Most of his songs were written by
R. K. Damodaran,
P. C. Aravindan ,
S. Ramesan Nair and
Chowalloor Krishnankutty .
Radhakrishnan was born on 5 November 1957 in
Ernakulam, as the son of Sankaranarayana Iyer and Subbulakshmi Ammal. He is the seventh of their nine children. He was trained in
Carnatic music
Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...
by Tripunithura K.C. Kalyanasundaram Bhagavathar,
Tanjore Subramania Bhagavathar, and
Dr. S. Ramanathan.
He composed his first album "Harisree Prasadam" with ten songs in 1980 collaborating with
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...
lyricist R. K. Damodaran and singers P Jayachandran, Kanhagad Ramachandran, Kavalam Sreekumar, Junior Mehaboob and Usha Manoharan.
His earliest collaborations with
K. J. Yesudas were the albums "
Thulasi Theertham" in 1986,"
Ganga Theertham Vol. 1" in 1989, both produced by Yesudas' label
Tharangini Records
Tharangini Records (currently Tharangni) is the music company founded by noted Indian Playback singer K. J. Yesudas in 1980 at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It was the first recording and distributing music label in Kerala from where Malayalam f ...
.
Radhakrishnan played bass guitar for the western music band Hijackers for eight years before he began composing devotional music.
Now he rarely touches guitar, and fully engages in devotional music. He is married to Padma, and has two children - a son named Shankar Vinayak, and a daughter named Lakshmi, both of them who follow their father's path, despite having career of their own. He is also a devotee of
Sathya Sai Baba, and regularly visits
Puttaparthi
Puttaparthi ( IAST: ''Puṭṭaparthy'') is a municipality and district headquarters of Sri Sathya Sai district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Puttaparthi mandal of Puttaparthi revenue division. The original name of P ...
since the start of his career.
Awards
On 11 May 2006 he was conferred the title "Bhakthiganopasakasri" for 25 years of composing devotional music by the Ernakulam Grama Jana Samooham and accepted the award from
Dr. K J Yesudas.
References
1957 births
Living people
Musicians from Kochi
Malayalam film score composers
Followers of Sathya Sai Baba
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