Senior Vocalist Anil Bharathi Passes Away at 75

Bharathi's contribution to the world of music spanned decades, leaving an indelible mark on both classical and contemporary music scenes. His vocal mastery and dedication to his craft earned him widespread admiration, and he was regarded as a mentor to many aspiring artists.

Anil Bharathi, the lanky singer with a bass voice, started as a vocalist for the ever popular Golden Chimes band, which was led by Clarence Wijewardena at that time, the early seventies. Initially Anil was invited to join the band as their English vocalist as the band wanted a talented singer in English language

Anil Bharathi is known as the Christmas singer of Sri Lanka from the good old 70s after recording his maiden evergreen Christmas song titled Bethlehemmpure written by Island’s renowned songwriter and radio announcer Karunaratne Abeysekara

As for Anil, the immense success of this song brought more offers to sing Christmas songs and he has sung more than fifty original Sinhala Christmas songs from time to time for various cassettes.

Anil Bharathi was an old boy of Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa in the 50s and incidentally this is one of the three schools, where he pursued his studies. He has sung for the choir at the Holy Emmanuel Church, Moratuwa in his younger days. He is a self-taught musician able to play the guitar and the piano. He has performed in many foreign countries including Australia. Further he has functioned as a compere for many musical events.

The music industry mourns the loss of a great talent whose legacy will continue to inspire future generations. Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced shortly.