Garimella Balakrishna Prasad Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Profession	Indian Classical Vocalist and Composer
Known For	Being a legendary Carnatic classical vocalist and composer in India
Physical Stats
Eye Colour	Light Brown
Hair Colour	Salt and Pepper (partially bald)
Career
Awards, Honours, Achievements	Awards: • Annamayya Nada Jyoti Award (1997) given by the Sri Venkateswara Annamacharya Society of America • Ugadi Puraskaram (2007) presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh • Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2020) for Carnatic vocal music • Padma Shri (2026) conferred posthumously by the Government of India for arts Asthana Vidwan Titles: • Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) • Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham (2010) • Sri Ahobhila Mutt
Personal Life
Date of Birth	9 November 1948 (Tuesday)
Birthplace	Rajamahendravaram, Andhra Pradesh, India
Date of Death	9 March 2025 (Sunday)
Place of Death	Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
Age (at the time of death)	76 Years
Death Cause	Cardic Arrest
Zodiac sign	Scorpio
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
College/University	Dr. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad
Educational Qualification(s)	• A Diploma in Carnatic Classical Vocal Music from Rechnical Education Department of Andhra Pradesh Government (1978) • A Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) with Modern Telugu Language (1992) from Dr. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad
Religion	Hinduism
Address	House no. 18-1-662A, Bhavani Nagar, Tirupati-517501
Social Media	• Facebook • YouTube
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Garimella Radha
Children	Son(s)- 2 • Garimella Pavana Kumar • Garimella Anila Kumar (Musician) Daughter- None
Parents	Father- Garimella Narasimha Rao (Music Composer) Mother- Krishnaveni (Vocal and Vilin Artist)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Garimella Balakrishna Prasad

• Garimella Balakrishna Prasad was born and raised in Rajamahendravaram, Andhra Pradesh into a family of musicians, where his mother, Garimella Krishnaveni was a vocalist and violinist, while his father, Garimella Narasimha Rao was a music composer and singer.

• During childhood, he received his first lessons in Carnatic music from his parents and developed a strong interest in devotional music at an early age.

• In 1960s, Balakrishna Prasad underwent advanced training under renowned Carnatic master Dr. Nedunuri Krishnamurthy asl also learned from Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna and Prof. D. Pasupathi.

• In 1978, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad completed as diploma in Carnatic Classical Vocal Music.

• In the same year, he joined the Trimula Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Annamacharya Project as a vocal artist and dedicated himself to reviving the compositions of the 15th century saint-poet Tallapaka Annamacharya. He served there until his retirement in 2006.

• During his time at TTD, he travelled extensively across India and presented Annamacharya’s compositions in concerts and introduced them to audiences who had never heard them before.

• In 1993, under the guidance of Garimella Balakrishna Prasad, TTD published Annamacharya Sankeerthana Swara Samputi, one of the first notation books featuring Prasad’s musical setting for Annamacharya compositions.

• In 1997, his musical notation book titled, Annamacharya Sankeerthana Manjari was published in Tamil.

• In 1999, another collection of his tuned Annamacharya Sankeerthana Sankeerthanam was published by TTD.

• In 2000 he was honoured as an Asthana Vidwan of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Ahobila Mutt and Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham for his contributions to devotional music.

• Over time, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad composed music for more than 1,000 Annamacharya Sanskirtanas and recorded nearly 800 of them for TTD and made him one of the most prolific composers of Annamacharya’s works in modern times.
  

  Garimella Balakrishna Prasad, while giving a stage performance

• He also composed around 50 original Carnatic kritis, more than 300 light music songs and created over 25 news ragas during his career.

• Besides TTD publications, he authored books such as Krishna Ravali, Anjaneya Kriti Mani Maala, and Annamayya Sankeerthana Sanjeevani.

• Throughout his career, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad received several honours from cultural organisations, universities and the Government of Andhra Pradesh for preserving Telugu devotional music.

• In 2020s, he received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his outstanding contribution to Carnatic and devotional music.
  

  A snip of Garimella Balakrishna Prasad’s prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

• Garimella Balakrishna composed tunes for the lyrics of nearly 1400 songs composed by various Indian poets.

• Along with Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), Prasad served as Asthana Vidwan (resident musician) at several prominent religious institutions, including Ahobilam temple, Andhra Pradesh and the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.

• Prasad authored over 10 books containing musical notations of Annamacharyan compositions and released more than 100 music albums, encompassing nearly 800 songs.

• Over the years, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad anchored several devotional television series amd trained more than 50 students through TTD Annamacharya project, while lakhs of musicians worldwide considered him as their guru through self-study of his recording and publications.

• On 9 March 2025, Garimella Balakrishna Prasad passed away after suffering a major cardiac arrest in Tirupati.

• In May 2026, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Shri in the field of Arts. His son, Garimella Anila Kumar, received the honour on his behalf from President Droupadi Murmu.