M. G. Radhakrishnan was born on 29 July 1940 at
Haripad, in
Alappuzha district,
Kerala as the eldest of three children of
music composer and
harmonist Malabar Gopalan Nair and
Harikatha exponent Kamalakshi marasyar. He studied at the
S. D. College,
Alappuzha, and undertook
Ganabhooshanam from
Swathi Thirunal College of Music.
K. J. Yesudas was one of his classmates there. His younger brother
M. G. Sreekumar is a
playback singer in
Malayalam and
Tamil cinema and his younger sister
K. Omanakutty is a carnatic vocalist and academic. Radhakrishnan was married to Padmaja, who was herself famous as a poet, lyricist and classical dancer. They had two children -
M. R. Rajakrishnan and Karthika. Their son Rajakrishnan is a well-known sound recordist, who has worked in many films. He died on 2 July 2010 at KIMS hospital in
Thiruvananthapuram due to liver disease, less than a month short of his 70th birthday. == Career ==