Happy birthday Aalap Raju: Playback singing to playing bass, meet the versatile Tamil singer

Be it soulful melodies or pop music, Aalap Raju's talent has always mesmerized the audience. On his 42nd birthday on Sunday, here are some lesser-known facts about the singer.

Singer Aalap Raju is one of the best known playback singers working in South Indian film industries today. He is also garnered praise for playing bass. In a career spanning over a decade, he has performed in more than three hundred concerts across the world, making him one of the most talented artists in the Kollywood music industry.

Aalap Raju has collaborated with many music directors such as Sreekanth Deva, Ilayaraaja, Thaman, D Immam and Deepak Dev.

Be it soulful melodies or pop music, Raju's talent has always mesmerized the audience. On his 42nd birthday on Sunday, here are some lesser-known facts about the singer.

Performed in more than eight countries

Raju has showcased his skills on various platforms across the world. Countries like Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Iceland and Latvia have witnessed his melodious performance as he was part of the Europalia Festival in 2013.

Nenjodu Cherthu - his most popular song on YouTube

His Malayalam song Nenjodu Cherthu for the Malayalam music album Yuvvh took the world by storm by gaining over 1.4 million views on YouTube in just four months of release.

He wanted to be a cricketer

During his school days in Chennai, he wanted to be a cricketer representing his country but landed up becoming a playback singer and musician.

Raju as playback singer

He has collaborated and sung for popular music directors like Sreekanth Deva, Ilayaraaja, Thaman, D Immam, Deepak Dev, and many others.

Earned the title of ‘Best Instrumentalist’

Raju was awarded 'Best Instrumentalist' at an event hosted by the IIT Chennai, which got him instant fame.

Hails from a family steeped in musical traditions

Raju is the son to famous Malayalam playback singers JM Raju and Latha Raju, while his grandparents, late Smt Santha P Nair and late K Padmanabhan Nair were well-known names in the Indian music industry in the ’60s and ’70s.