Coronavirus update: SP Balasubrahmanyam dies at 74

Singer SP Balasubrahmanyam, who was admitted to the MGM Healthcare hospital in Chennai on 5 August after testing positive for COVID-19, died a short while ago, the hospital said in a statement.

Though SPB, as the veteran was popularly known, was showing signs of recovery over the past couple of weeks, his condition deteriorated suddenly yesterday and he had to be put on maximum life support. A medical bulletin from the hospital described his condition as 'extremely critical'.

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan rushed to pay his dear friend a visit last night. On his way out, he told reporters that SPB was critical and family members were praying for him.

This afternoon, Balasubrahmanyam suffered a 'cardio-respiratory arrest' and died at 1:04 pm, the hospital said in a statement.

Only last week, Balasubrahmanyam's son SP Charan had reported that his father was showing signs of recovery and had even tested negative for COVID-19.

Charan tweeted: "Dad is stable and is continuing physio. ECMO and ventilator continue to be on but hopefully for not long. Thanks to the team of doctors from #MGMHealthcare and all of you who have been praying for him (sic)."

In a video message, Charan said, “We were expecting Dad’s lungs to improve, as they were, to a certain point where we could remove the ventilator. Unfortunately, we are still not at that. But the good news is Dad is COVID-negative.”

Over the past month and a half, several members of the Tamil film fraternity had come together to pray for Balasubrahmanyam's speedy recovery. A mass prayer was also organized at which several Tamil celebrities prayed for his recovery while playing one of his songs.

For close to five decades, SPB’s voice mesmerized lakhs of people across the length and breadth of the country. With over 40,000 songs to his credit, according to one estimate, SPB leaves behind a massive musical legacy.