Swarnalatha
Swarnalatha (29 April 1973 – 12 September 2010) was an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning almost 22 years (from 1987 until her death), she recorded over 10,000 songs in many Indian languages, including Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi, and Badaga. She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her rendition of the song "Porale Ponnuthayi" from the film "Karuththamma". The song was composed by A. R. Rahman, under whose musical direction she recorded many memorable songs. She was also the first female playback singer to get a National Award In  A. R. Rahman Music. Personal life. She was born in Kerala, to K. C. Cherukutty and Kalyani. Her father was a harmonium player and singer. Her mother also had interest in music. Swarnalatha was trained to play harmonium and keyboard. Swarnalatha's family later moved to Bhadravathi in Shivamogga District, Karnataka where she had her education. She started singing at the age of 3. Surrounded by a family of musicians and music lovers, Swarnalatha was trained in Carnatic and Hindustani music. Her sister Saroja was her first music teacher. Career. Swarnalatha's family moved to Chennai to seek opportunities in  the film industry for her singing talent. The first opportunity came from M. S. Viswanathan in 1987, when she performed a duet with K. J. Yesudas, "Chinnachiru Kiliye" in the film "Neethikku Thandanai". Subsequently, she was approached by many other music directors to perform songs under their baton. She also had the opportunity to work with director P. Venu. She was recruited by musicians like Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman. She also recorded a few Hindi songs, the most notable one being "Hai Rama Yeh Kya Hua" from the film "Rangeela" with singer Hariharan. She was also known as the  Nightingale of Tamil cinema and The Humming Queen Of India. In Telugu, she recorded more songs under the music direction of Mani Sharma, Ramana Gogula, Raj–Koti, and Vandemataram Srinivas. They include the immensely popular songs like Raamma Chilakamma, Osey Ramulamma, and Nizam Babulu. A. R. Rahman employed Swarnalatha for many of his songs. She was one of the most versatile singers of her times, as she was able to sing melodies like "Maalayil Yaaro Manathodu Pesa" from "Sathriyan" or "Porale Ponnuthayi" from "Karuthamma" as well as Rahman's experimental songs like "Mukkabla" from "Kadhalan" or "Mottu Vittadha" from "Pavithra . Swarnalatha was the first female playback singer to fetch the National Award under A. R. Rahman's music direction. She received the award for the song Porale Ponnuthayi". She recorded many songs with music directors Deva, Vidyasagar, Harris Jayaraj, Anu Malik, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Raj–Koti, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Mani Sharma, Hamsalekha and many others. She recorded all the songs originally rendered by Lata Mangeshkar and Shamshad Begum for the Tamil movie "Anarkali" (the dubbed version of the Hindi movie "Mughal-e-Azam") and was praised by the Bollywood music director Naushad Ali, which she considered the best moment in  her career. Television She was part of Few Music Reality shows in early 2000's. In a 2001 Vijay TV reality show and in 2004 Jaya TV Ragamalika show as judge. Death. Swarnalatha died at Malar Hospitals Ltd Adayar, Chennai at the age of 37, on 12 September 2010. She had been suffering from Idiopathic lung disease. Awards and recognitions. National Award (Silver Lotus Award)-(Rajat Kamal) Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Cinema Express Awards Government Honour Recognition She has sung over 200 songs for Ilayaraja and marked as one of the noted combinations in 90's. 'Povomaa Oorkolam' and 'Nee  Yengae Enn Anbae' from the film Chinnathambi were hits. Government of Tamil Nadu honoured her with the award of Best Singer for the song 'Povomaa Oorkolam'. Frequent collaboration. The song 'Raakkamma Kayyathattu' from the film "Thalapathi" figured in BBC's "Hits List of World Songs". She had sung several experimental songs for Ilayaraja such as "Sollividu VelliNilave', "Kanne Indru Kalyana Kathai" and "Ennai Thottu Allikonda". A. R. Rahman and Swarnalatha association started from the year 1993. Their Combination is known for the magical songs such as "Mukkala Mukkabala", "Hai Rama yeh kya hua", which are the hit songs of 90 's. She was the first female singer to receive National Award under Rahman's Music for the song "Porale ponnuthayi" from karuthama released in the year 1994. She has sung nearly 80 songs for Rahman.