15 Facts About Priya Suriyasena

Madawala Liyanage Don Sarathchandra Priyadarshi Suriyasena Liyanage, popularly known as Priya Suriyasena, was a Sri Lankan singer.

Priya Suriyasena was born on 27 October 1944 to an up-country middle-class family in Nattandiya, Puttalam District.

Priya Suriyasena's father Jamis Appuhami was a poet, from whom he got his musical talents.

Priya Suriyasena was the only son in a family of four.

Priya Suriyasena is a talented singer and performs on live TV to continue his father's legacy.

Priya Suriyasena sat for external music exams conducted by the government musical college 'Heywood' from 1968 to 1971 and obtained a diploma in music.

Priya Suriyasena won several prizes as a student after participating in musical programs, such as the island-wide UNESCO talent competition in which he won the first prize.

Priya Suriyasena continued his career as a music teacher at Kelaniya Gurukula College in 1971 while being a stage singer.

Priya Suriyasena recorded some of his original songs in SLBC in 1972 and passed as an A-grade radio singer.

Priya Suriyasena's popularity was raised with the Sarasaviya Award for "Kendan Yannam", a song from Sena Samarasinghe's 1984 film Aethin Aethata with Milton Mallawarachchi and Gratien Ananda.

Priya Suriyasena was a playback singer in many films including Mal Kekulu in the early 1980s, the song "Bindu Bindu Kandulu Sala", a duet with Shayami Fonseka and music directed by Sarath Dassanayake and produced by Sena Samarasinghe.

However, later Priya Suriyasena gave up singing as a playback singer focusing only on stage.

In 1996, Suriyasena brought a new musical generation to the country with the album "Sunflowers with Priya" which grossed revenue of over Rs.

Priya Suriyasena travelled overseas to countries with significant Sri Lankan communities for musical performances.

Priya Suriyasena died while undergoing treatment at the Colombo National Hospital, on 24 December 2024, at the age of 80.