Fact Check: It is indeed the last virtual concert by SPB but it is unverifiable if he contracted virus at the prog

Hyderabad: The passing away of the legendary singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam has left his fans devastated. His funeral has been held at his farmhouse at Thamaraipakkam village in Thiruvallore district on September 26.

After his demise, a video of Balasubrahmanyam attending a concert is going viral claiming that it was the last concert given by SPB and due to this concert, he was infected by the Coronavirus.

Archived link of the claim can be found here, here and here.

Fact Check:

The claim that this was his last virtual concert is TRUE, but it is NOT verifiable that he got Covid-19 due to participation in this concert.

He participated in the 100th episode of 'Mouna Raagam Murali sings for the musician', a fundraising programme for musicians and artists struggling during the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to several media reports, SPB participated in this virtual concert on July 18, 2020. He also talked about a few topics, including Coronavirus.

In his last virtual concert held on July 18 in Chennai, the legendary playback singer had said there was no need to speak anything wrong about the Covid crisis and asserted that the pandemic was a curse, which was a result of all the mistakes humanity had committed in the past by exploiting nature.

S.P. Balasubramaniam, 74, was admitted to a private hospital at Choolaimedu in Chennai on August 5 due to Covid-19 and he underwent intensive treatment.

We can also see the longer version of the viral video attached to an article published in behindwoods.com website titled when "SPB spoke about Coronavirus on a concert day before he tested COVID positive!"

Here is the video of that virtual concert, where SPB talks about Covid-19 too

On July 30 and 31, SPB attended the filming of a programme named 'Samajavaragamana', where several singers tested positive later. Singer Malavika, who participated in the filming with SPB, was infected with Coronavirus. Following this, news spread on WhatsApp that Malavika had infected SPB with the virus as she had taken in the filming knowing that she was infected with Covid-19. Following this, singer Malavika has given an explanation regarding this controversy.

The massage briefly states that:

"A fake WhatsApp message has been doing the rounds which says I tested positive for Corona "before" the shoot of a TV show but I still went to it. It also says the show was planned with me and my sister.

Now coming to facts- Samajavaragamana SPBalu Garu's episode was shot on July 30 with many singers like Hemachandra, Anudeep, Pranavi and Lipsika and on July 31, with Karunya, Damini, Satya Yamini, Vasa Pavani and Malavika. I happen to be one of the 4 female singers on the second day of the shoot. Had I been positive I could have easily passed it on to the 3 other female singers or the anchor with whom I shared the makeup room. My sister is not a singer and she lives in the US, how and why will she sing in that show?

As I heard news of some members of the crew and SPB garu testing positive on August 5, I got myself tested and got the report on August 8."

This was reported in several media reports.

The claim that this is the last virtual concert of S.P. Balasubrahmanyam is TRUE. However, it is unverifiable that he got infected with Covid-19 due to participation in this programme as he attended several other programmes like Samajavaragamana that gets telecast on ETV.