The legendary singer Vani Jairam passed away on February 4 at the age of 78. She was found dead at her Chennai residence on Saturday. Her death sent shockwaves through the music industry. According to reports, she apparently fell and suffered a forehead injury at her residence in Chennai's Haddows Road, Nungambakkam. The cause of death has yet to be determined. The lengendary vocalist was cremated on Sunday, February 5, with full state honors.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, MK Stalin, visited the singer's residence to pay his last respects. He also shared a tweet offering condolences. On Sunday, the cremation was held with full state honours.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended his condolences over the singer's passing. His tweet read, "The talented Vani Jairam Ji will be remembered for her melodious voice and rich works, which covered diverse languages and reflected different emotions. Her passing away is a major loss for the creative world. Condolences to her family and admirers. Om Shanti."
Jairam broke onto the music scene with the song Bole Re Papihara from Jaya Bachchan's debut as a leading lady in the 1971 film Guddi. She has done playback for over a thousand Indian movies.
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She has recorded over 10,000 songs across languages such as Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, and Bengali, among others. For 2023, the President has approved the conferment of 106 Padma awards, and Jairam was one of the recipients. The Padma Awards are conferred by the President at ceremonial functions which are held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March or April every year. Unfortunately, Jairam has passed away before receiving the honour.
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