Pandit Bhimsen Joshi awarded the Bharat Ratna

Celebrated Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, was awarded the Bharat Ratna on Wednesday. He led the renaissance of Indian classical music with the passion and power of a one-man chorus in an epic saga of struggle and single pointed thirst for music.Acknowledged as the leading light of the Kirana gharana, Bhimsen Joshi (86) through his amazing absorption of the soul of various gayaki styles has created a unique blend adding his own introspective aesthetic sense.

A recipient of several awards including the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shree, Joshi has added his own distinctive style excelling in gamakar, meend and tanakriya and adapting characterstics from other gharanas to create a unique vocal idiom. Joshi's rendition of Mile Sur Tumhara with other doyens of music--Balamurli Krishna and Lata Mangheskhar that virtually became an unofficial national anthem in a humble way in 1988 captured the hearts of millions of Indians. Louis Banks andt he late P Vaidyanathan, a classically trained musician, got the right fusion of music for the song that was beamed on Doordarshan to countless homes.

Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi was born in a Kannadiga family on February 4, 1922 in Gadag, an idyllic village in Dharwad district of Karnataka. His father was a conservative school master.A descendant of the Kirana Gharana(stream), he is particularly renowned for the khayal form of singing and for his bhajans.
ref: hindustantimes.com