Veteran Carnatic musician Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna passed away in Chennai on Tuesday. He was 86. He had not been keeping well for the past few days.

Born in Sankaraguptham in Andhra Pradesh, Balamuralikrishna started singing at the age of six. He was well-versed in Carnatic vocal music, viola, and violin.

Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna (6 July 1930 to 22 November 2016) is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and actor. Mangalampalli was awarded Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan for his contribution towards Indian Art.

Balamuralikrishna has composed over 400 compositions in various languages like Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada, and Tamil. At the age of eight, Balamuralikrishna gave his first full-fledged concert at a Thyagaraja Aradhana, Vijayawada. He has since then given over 25,000 performances worldwide.

Mangalampalli was born in Sankaraguptam, East Godavari District on 6 July 1930. Mangalampalli made his filmy debut as Narada in classic Bhakta Prahlada which was released in 1967.