I couldn't remember the exact year when I know about this great singer. It may about 2002 or 2003. I got admission for B.E. in SIET, dhenkanal. I was going for Math tuition to Santosh Sir (Mr Santosh Kumar Nayak). One day I came across his room. I heard a very heavy & sweet voice coming out from his room. I went to his room & saw that sir was not there. His brother was listening song. That song was "Madhuban khusboo deta hai ...". I sat & listened the whole song. His first song touched my heart. I borrowed that cassette from him. From that first day, I became a big fan of him.

His most famous songs which I love, are -

• Madhuban khusboo deta hai
• Gori Tera Gaon
• Jaaneman Jaaneman Tere Do Nayan
• Khushiyan Hi Khushiyan
• Chand Jaise Mukhde Pe
• Ka Karoon Sajni
• Koi Gata Main So Jata

He has recorded more than 55,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tulu, Malay, Russian, Arabic, Latin and English.

Career

Yesudas began his career in playback singing in the Malayalam movie Kaalpadukal and Kollywood movies in the early '60s (He sang for 'Bommai' first (Music : K.Balachandar), but the first released movie was 'Konjum Kumari'(Music : Veda))and by '70s he entered Bollywood. The first Hindi song was for the movie 'Jai Jawan Jai Kissan' (1971), but the first released movie was 'Chhoti Si Baat'. He has sung Hindi songs for many leading actors in Hindi cinema including Amitabh Bachchan, Amol Palekar, Jeetendra and so on. He has sung many evergreen Hindi film songs for many popular music directors including Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Khayyam, Rajkamal and Salil Chowdhury Almost all of the Hindi movie songs that he sang are popular even today. He has bagged seven National Film Awards for the best singer in the Indian film industry which is a record no singer has equalled, let alone surpassed. In 2006, he sang 16 film songs in four South Indian languages on the same day at AVM Studio, Chennai.

Yesudas has performed in many major cities around the world. In 1965, he was invited by the Soviet Union government to perform at music concerts in various cities in the USSR and also sang a Russian song over Radio Kazakhstan. In 2001 he sang for album Ahimsa in Sanskrit, Latin and English and in a mix of styles including New-Age and Carnatic. In his music concerts in the Middle East he sings Arabic songs in the Carnatic style. He frequently did the role of a cultural ambassador of India through his numerable performances abroad by promoting Indian Music.

In 1970, he was nominated to head the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy and was the youngest person ever to occupy the post. In 1971, during the Indo-Pakistani War, Yesudas traveled all around Kerala with his musical troupe to raise funds for the Indian Prime Minister's National Defense Fund. He also became Senate member of International Parliament for Safety and Peace. On 14 November 1999, UNESCO presented Yesudas with an honorary award for "Outstanding Achievements in Music and Peace" at the "Music for Peace" event in Paris, a concert held to mark the dawn of the new millennium and whose attendees included artistes such as Lionel Richie, Ray Charles, Montserrat Caballé, and Zubin Mehta. In 2009 Yesudas began a cross-country musical campaign against terrorism in Thiruvananthapuram, with the motto 'Music For Peace'. Kavita Karkare, wife of Hemant Karkare, handed over the torch to Yesudas to mark the launch of the ' Shanthi Sangeetha Yatra'.

Because of his immense talent and popularity he is often preferred by music directors/producers to render the songs which require the power factor and extreme variations in ragas mainly in the big budget movies. The song "Aadiyusha sandhya" from the movie Pazhassi Raja is an example for his voice clarity even at the age of 69.Thiruvarur Bakthavathsalam, a well known mridangam maestro, has accompanied him in many concerts.

Admirers

• Oscar winner A.R. Rahman has publicly quoted as saying that Yesudas is his favourite singer and the most beautiful voice in the world is that of Yesudas.
• Multi National Award winner Kamal Hasan has said recently I'm probably one of the earliest fans of Dr KJ Yesudas. When he was staying in Chennai, around the time he had just sung his first Tamil song for the film 'Bommai' in 1963. I used to visit him and his group of friends. I sang songs and played the guitar with them. I would go back to my friends and tell them I am friends with Mr Yesudas - I was a small boy then, I still am a small boy in front of his talent. He is one of the greatest artist India has produced, his body might be 70 years old, but his voice and mind-set is somewhere in the 20's. He has been a hero for me for more than one reason.
• Veteran blind music composer Ravindra Jain bestowed Yesudas the title 'Voice of India' and Yesudas' face was the first he wanted to see if he ever received his vision.
• Late Music composer Raveendran master and close friend, whose 95% of male compositions tunes was sang by Yesudas once said Yesudas has the voice of God, I am a devotee of his voice.
• Playback singer P. Susheela was quoted as saying Yesudas is an ocean of Music, he looks like a saint in his appearance and behaviour, but when he sings its like thunderstorm.
• Playback singer S. Janaki on being asked to comment on Yesudas replied,how high is the sky, Yesudas is beyond that.
• Playback singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam has credited that Yesudas is his second favourite singer, after the late Mohammed Rafi.
• Playback singing National Award record holder K.S. Chitra has publicly quoted saying that to sing along with Yesudas sir is still the biggest challenge of my life, even after working with him for such a long time. To sing on a stage where there is presence of Yesudas sir, either as a performer or among the audience, makes me nervous because I am always aware of the fact that I am singing in front of the living God of Music.
• Notable carnatic and playback singer P. Unnikrishnan has said that Yesudas is the first example of a person who can sing both light and classical music with equal ease. Further, most people in the music industry do other thing's in their spare time, Yesudas is always immersed in music - a true role model for us all.
• Actor Mammootty has said I am not a fan of Yesudas, I am a devotee. He lives and breathes music. I am not conceited enough to say that Yesudas has sung 95% of my song's in films, but rather, I have been lucky that 95% of the song's I sung in film's were sung by him.
• Renowned Indian film maker Adoor Gopalakrishnan said of Yesudas, beyond his music, which no-one can deny, through blessed musical abilities, through dedicated hard-work and practice, through simplistic/humble way of life and his feel for the common man, he is a man who stand's alone on a pedestal.
• Renowned Malayalam poet O. N. V. Kurup commented, his god given pure, sweet voice is what make's Yesudas special. Further, his hard-work ethic along with practice and dedication and with the grounded knowledge that he is fated to sing on this earth the way only he can.
• Ghazal and playback singer Hariharan once said that Yesudasji is a part of the life of people in Kerala. From early morning devotionals to late night lullaby, from FM radios to televisions, any street, any house, any hotel or restaurant, even in the buses you go, you will hear his voice being played. He connects Kerala from north to south.

Awards and honours

• Padma Shri(1975)
• Padma Bhushan(2002)
• National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer a record seven times by the Government of India.
• Kerala State Film Awards a record twenty four times for the best Playback singer by the Government of Kerala.
• Tamil Nadu State Film Awards eight times for the best Playback singer by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
• Andhra Pradesh State Film Awards six times for the best Playback singer by the Government of Andra Pradesh.
• Karnataka State Film Awards Five Times for the best Playback singer by the Government of Karnataka.
• West Bengal State Film Awards One time for the best Playback singer by the Government of West Bengal.
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1992)
• D. Phil by Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu (1989)
• D. Litt by Kerala University, Kerala (2003)
• D. Litt by Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala (2009)
• Swaralaya - Eenam Awards 2010 - Decade's Best Talent in Malayalam Music