| birth_place = Madurai, Madras Presidency, British India | spouse = Kalki Sadasivam | dead=dead | death_date = | death_place = Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India }} Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (), popularly known as M.S. or M.S.S.) (September 16, 1916 - December 11, 2004) was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor [LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnataka/Carnatic_music] [1]. M.S.Subbulakhsmi was born on 16 Sep,1916 in a musical family, in the temple town of Madurai situated in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. M.S. started learning Carnatic music from a very early age and released her first recording at the age of 10. She then began her Carnatic classical music training under Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and then Hindustani classical training under Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. Her f