Veteran singer and renowned celebrity, SP Balasubrahmanyam passed away battling COVID-19 on Friday.

The 74-year-old suffered from co-morbidities which led to a sudden deterioration and put him under intensive care. He was admitted to a Chennai hospital after he complained of mild symptoms and respiratory issues, including chest discomfort and low-grade fever.

The South Indian singer, who is fondly remembered for lending his voice to a lot of Bollywood films, was diagnosed with novel Coronavirus in the month of August.

While the singer tested negative for the virus in early September, the singer continued to stay in the hospital as his condition continues to deteriorate.

According to reports, the 74-year-old singer could not be taken off ventilator support, since he was in critical condition because of his lungs.

The singer’s unfortunate demise is yet another loss to the novel coronavirus infection, which has claimed at least 9,82,000 lives worldwide.

Widely regarded as one of India’s finest playback singers, Balasubrahmanyam has been awarded a bevy of accolades and awards throughout his music career.

Having sung over 40,000 songs in various Indian languages, SPB created a Guinness World Record for recording the highest number of songs, as reported by IANS.

He has also been conferred with the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer six times; he is a recipient of the coveted Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhushan (2011) from the Government of India. Besides this, he also won numerous Filmfare and state awards over the years.