M.S. Subbulakshmi, the doyenne of Carnatic music of South India, died in a hospital here shortly before midnight. She was 88.
She was admitted to hospital Dec 2 with viral fever which turned into what doctors have described as broncho-pneumonia.
Subbulakshmi had been recovering but she became "critically ill" Dec 10. She was perhaps the first Carnatic musician to have sung in an United Nations forum, in 1966.
She acted in several films, and also sang herself for the lead roles. Her popular roles were "Meera", "Savithri" and "Shakuntala". In her later years, the record of her songs "Suprabhatam" began the morning for south Indian households.