Playback singer Ramakrishna passes away

Hyderabad: Veteran playback singer Vissamraju Ramakrishna, who was undergoing treatment for cancer for quite some time, breathed his last on Wednesday at his residence in Hyderabad. He was 68.Born in 1947, Ramakrishna, who has nearly 5,000 songs to his credit, started his career as a singer at a very young age on popular show Yuva Vani on All India Radio.

Nephew of popular playback singer P Susheela, Ramakrishna idolised legendary singer Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao. In 1972, he made his singing debut with the song "Vayase Oka Poolathota" from ‘Vichitra Bandham’.

He went on to sing for smash hits such as ‘Andala Ramudu’, ‘Sharada’, ‘Alluri Seetharama Raju’, ‘Muthyala Muggu’ and ‘Amaradeepam’. Some of his hit numbers include “Krishnaveni, Teluginti viriboni” (Krishnaveni), “Shiva Shiva Shankara” (Bhakta Kannapa) and “Edho edho annadi” (Muthyala Muggu).

He was also popular for a number of devotional songs that he sang. Actors like NTR, ANR, Sobhan Babu and Krishnam Raju held him in high regards. Ramakrishna is survived by wife Jyothi, son Sai Kiran, a popular actor and daughter Lekha.

THI