Vani Jairam, a National Award-winning legendary playback singer who received the Padma Bhushan award – the third-highest civilian award – this year, was found dead at her Chennai home on Saturday. According to reports, she was discovered dead with a head injury at her home on Haddows Road in Nungambakkam, Chennai. She was 78 years old.
In the evening, a forensics team arrived at the residence and collected samples. Vani Jairam has worked with some of the biggest composers in various industries to create evergreen chartbusters. She has songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Tulu, and Oriya to her name. She has given numerous performances both in the United States and around the world.
It should be noted that she has received three National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer. State honors have also been bestowed upon her by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, and Odisha.
Vani Jairam recently celebrated her 50th year as a professional singer, having recorded over 10,000 songs. She has collaborated with legendary composers such as MS Viswanathan Ilaiyaraaja, RD Burman, KV Mahadevan, OP Nayyar, and Madan Mohan.