Ilaiyaraaja

Biography

Ilaiyaraaja is an Indian film composer who works in the South Indian cinema predominantly in Tamil since mid 1970s. Widely regarded as one of the the greatest Indian music composers of all time, Ilaiyaraaja is also an instrumentalist, conductor, singer, and songwriter. He has composed more than 6500 songs and provided film scores for more than 1500 films, also being acclaimed for his exceptional background scores.

Singers S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, K. S. Chithra and S. Janaki have sung more of his songs than any other singers. He integrated folk—in Tamil—and introduced western musical sensibilities into the South Indian musical mainstream. Ilaiyaraja is also known for creating music by fusing...