V. Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna Vissamraju (August 20, 1947 – July 16, 2015) was a playback singer in South India.

Ramakrishna was born to Vissamraju Rangasai and Ratnam on August 20, 1947. The singer P. Susheela was his maternal aunt.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree but decided to become a professional singer, a decision influenced by his admiration for Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao. He sang light music for All India Radio.

Ramakrishna's debut movie song was "Vayase Oka Poolathota" in Vichitra Bandham in 1972. Throughout his career, he performed over 5000 songs in movies and devotional albums and has given numerous stage shows across Andhra Pradesh. He was a playback singer for Telugu actors such as NTR, ANR, Sobhan Babu, and Krishnam Raju.

Later in life, he took up acting and appeared in television series and films. He continued to give concerts across Andhra Pradesh.

In 1976, he married Jyothi Khanna, who was also a singer. The couple had two children, Lekha, and Sai Kiran, who made his acting début in Nuvve Kaavali in 2001.

From his own words in the show Open Heart with RK, Ramakrishna expressed the reason for his disappearance in movies. Famous music director Chakravarty played a key role for not giving any opportunities for him and also made sure no one gave him an opportunity because of the personal grudge. Later during the last days of Chakravarthy, he called Ramakrishna and expressed his guilt and asked apology. Another famous singer SP.Balasubramanyam also sang a song that had been chosen earlier for Ramakrishna, and he even sang a song sung earlier by Rama Krishna. Apart from all these, he is a true altruist and took every thing for good and good inspiration for others.

He died on July 16, 2015, having suffered from cancer for ten months and having been admitted to Banjara Hills Omega Hospitals. He was 67 and is survived by his wife, son Sai Kiran and daughter Lekha.

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