P. Jayachandran, legendary Malayalam playback singer, died at the age of 80. Industry tracker Sreedhar Pillai posted the news of his passing on X (previously Twitter).
The musician has been fighting cancer for a while, according to a number of outlets, including The Times of India. He passed away from the disease while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Thrissur, leaving behind a legacy of indestructible footprints.
On March 3, 1944, P. Jayachandran was born in Ravipuram, Kochi, Kerala. He was the third child of Subhadrakunjamma of the Paliyam Palace and Ravivarma Kochanian Thamburan of Tripunithura Kovilakam, a member of the Cochin Royal Family.
During his early years, Jayachandran’s family relocated from Kochi to Irinjalakuda in Thrissur, where he finished his schooling. In addition to being a Zoology graduate, he won multiple awards for his youthful performances of light music and mridangam playing.
P. Jayachandran sung more than 16,000 songs in a variety of languages, including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada, over his storied career. He also tried his hand at acting in a couple of movies.
G. Devarajan, M.S. Baburaj, V. Dakshinamoorthy, K. Raghavan, M.S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja, Koti, Shyam, M.M. Keeravani, Vidyasagar, A.R. Rahman, and many others were among the legendary musicians with whom he began his career in Malayalam.
Known by his nickname “Bhava Gayakan,” which translates to “Expressive Singer,” Jayachandran won multiple awards during his career. In 1986, he was the recipient of the National Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the film Sree Narayana Guru. He also won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and multiple Kerala State Film Awards.
