Playback singer S. Janaki in Chennai. File.
| Photo Credit: N. Sridharan
Veteran playback singer S Janaki, who sang hundreds of songs across films in South Indian languages, died at the age of 88 in Mysuru in Karnataka on Saturday (July 11, 2026).She was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Mysuru in the early hours of Saturday (July 11) after she developed health complications. People who were looking after her shifted the singer to the hospital. She, however, did not respond to treatment and breathed her last in the evening, according to family sources. The veteran singer was residing at Bogadi in Mysuru since past few years.On admission to the hospital, Janaki’s health condition was critical and she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the hospital said in a statement. Despite intensive medical care and continuous monitoring, Janaki suffered a cardiac arrest and was declared deceased shortly after, the release added.Known for her versatility, Janaki recorded over 48,000 songs in multiple languages, predominantly the South Indian languages of Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.Over a career spanning six decades, she sang for films, albums, television and radio in about 20 Indian languages, including Hindi, Odia, Tulu, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali. Published - July 11, 2026 08:56 pm IST
