What SPB said about COVID in his last virtual concert

In his last virtual concert held on July 18 in Chennai, legendary playback singer SP Balasubrahmanyam had said there was no need to speak anything wrong about the COVID crisis and asserted that the pandemic was a curse, which was a result of all the mistakes humanity had committed in the past by exploiting nature.

Fondly known as SPB, the veteran singer passed away due to COVID-related ailments earlier in the day.

During the virtual concert, after singing the song ‘Sathi malli poocharame’ from the movie Azhagan, SPB went on to speak about the COVID-19 scenario. He asked people not to say anything wrong about COVID-19.

“We need not talk anything wrong about corona. It is a curse for all the mistakes we have committed. We have exploited nature enough. We didn’t give nature the respect it deserved,” he said.

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“Our ancestors gave us a beautiful earth, air and water. We spoiled everything and we are giving a graveyard to the future generations. Is it even justifiable?” he questioned.

He further said people now had to undergo the consequences of our mistakes.

“A common man will keep in mind only his caste, community, and race. But wise people will consider everybody as one and will think of sharing what we have if we have more. Now, this is happening. People are contributing to other people’s happenings,” he said.

He added that the pandemic has united people and that people are coming forward to help each other.

He went on to speak about how music festivals have changed over time.

“I have been witness to a lot of things right from live recording to track recording. With the experience of having sung with almost all the music directors in India, I have a lot of stage experience across countries. But now, assuming and expecting that audience are watching, we are now doing a virtual concert in a room like we do rehearsals,” he said.

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“We do not know what experiences the future generations are going to get. Orchestra troops may be in some other place and the singer may sing from a different place. All this might happen and we don’t have an option,” he added.

In what came as a bittersweet statement in hindsight, SPB had also said, “In the future, I may have to meet all of you (audience) and continue performing like this (virtually) for a while.”

He concluded his speech by saying, “Let us wait for the best. I’ll be there still, for a while. Please bless me.”

SPB participated in the 100th episode as a part of the show ‘Mouna Raagam Murali sings for the Musician’, a fund raising event for musicians and artists struggling during the virus pandemic.