Ilaiyaraaja and I are still friends: SP Balasubrahmanyam clears the air

Legendary singer SP Balasubrahmanyam faced several setbacks in the last few weeks. He received a legal notice from his best friend and composer Illayaraja, who didn’t want the former to sing his songs as part of his recent world tour. Adding to his woes, his passport and other valuables were stolen. Even though SPB was disturbed by the recent turn of events, he said nothing has changed between him and Illayaraja.

“Ilaiyaraaja and I still friends. Yes, the legal notice disturbed me a lot but the show has to go on. Luckily, I’ve sung several hit numbers for other composers and people didn’t complain much,” said SP Balasubrahmanyam talking to a leading channel.

“I’ve self-respect, Ilaiyaraaja or someone from his office should have informed me and I would have solved the issue through a phone call. We have been friends even before we entered films,” added the National Award winning singer.

Talking about his relationship with Ilaiyaraaja, SPB said: “If not us, people think that I’ve born to sing for Ilaiyaraaja and his compositions are destined for my voice. There is no doubt, Ilaiyaraaja is a genius and he is the best music composer I’ve ever worked with. There is no difference of opinion between us and time will solve this issue.”

“A song belongs to many people. Directors provide situations, music director composes the song, lyricists give beautiful lyrics, singers lend their voices and musicians play instruments, which should be recorded and later actors should perform aesthetically to attract audiences,” explains SP Balasubramaniam on why music composers can’t solely claim royalty for songs.

“Organizers paying the royalty to IPRS makes sense and I always ensure that it’s done in my concerts. But directly paying composers is a new process and I’m not aware of it,” concludes SPB.