Legendary playback singer Vani Jayaram no more

Legendary playback singer Vani Jairam, who was conferred with the Padma Bhushan award - the third-highest civilian award -- this year, was found dead at her Chennai home on Saturday. With her sweet and captivating voice, Vani Jayaram has captured the souls of the listeners irrespective of language or even caste barriers. It is to be noted that she has won National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer thrice. She has also received State awards from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, and Odisha.

Vani Jairam recently completed 50 years as a professional singer and had recorded more than 10,000 songs. The national award-winning singer worked with several musicians across the country. She has worked with legendary composers including MS Viswanathan Ilaiyaraaja, RD Burman, KV Mahadevan, OP Nayyar and Madan Mohan, among others. Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was among those for whom Vani Jairam has sung. She has sung over 10,000 songs in 19 languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada.