Sunil Perera Biography – Sunil Perera Wiki
Sunil Perera born Ivor Sylvester Sunil Perera was a Sri Lankan vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and composer. He was the leader and the lead vocalist of the popular Sri Lankan band, The Gypsies. He remains one of the most famous singers in the country, while his band, The Gypsies, remains one of Sri Lanka’s biggest musical franchises for the past three decades, with regular foreign tours, several hit albums, and sold-out concerts. He was regarded as one of the stalwarts of Sri Lanka’s baila genre and was also nicknamed “Baila Chakravarthy”.
At 11, he began to play guitar. In the beginning, his father expected him to pursue his higher studies and then to make him a professional doctor. However, he was not able to pursue his higher education due to inadequate results in GCE O/L examinations. His father made arrangements for him to do the GCE O/L examination privately but Sunil again could not produce expected results in order to further continue his studies. Sunil later made clear his interest in music to his father. In 1969 at the age of 15 as soon as he left school, he became part of the band The Gypsies created by his father, Anton Perera along with his brothers – Nihal, Lal, Nimal, Piyal, and uncle’s son, grandpa’s son and daughter, there were all seven of the crew. He learned guitar under Vincent Jayawardane and George Ferdinando and had voice training under Loren Abeysekara, Lily Godridge, and Maryanne David.
He was the main vocalist of the band along with his brother Piyal Perera. Their first hit Linda Langa Sangamaya was released in 1972/1973 along with Amma Amma Me Mata. In the mid-1970s, his other brothers left the band and got involved in business activities. In 1980, Gypsies released the first cassette with the song Kurumitto. Other tracks sung by Gypsies include Kadapathakin, None Mage Sudu None (1977), Lunu Dehi (1987), Uncle Johnson (1987), Oye Ojaye (1989), Piti Kotapan None, and Signore (1997).
His recent works such as I don’t know Why to address mere sociopolitical issues through humor. However, several of his songs have been banned by the state media due to criticizing the government. In 2017, he released the song Koththamalli. He also sang and released Buongiorno in 2018 which was the first hit song to be released under the Gypsies label after a gap of four years. In 2019, he sang the song Diyawannawe Inna for the film Jaya Sri Amathithuma. The band The Gypsies celebrated the Golden Jubilee in 2021 by arranging concerts via virtual platforms.
He had come up with his own ideology about the sociopolitical situation in the country. He was highly critical of Sri Lankan society and politics. He openly talked about sensitive topics such as intimacy which are often deemed as taboo subjects in conservative Sri Lanka. He was also a vocal critic of the administration of Gotabaya Rajapakse and Mahinda Rajapakse over the years. In 2015, revealed that he was feared of being a target of the Rajapaksa family when Mahinda Rajapakse lost the election during the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election.
In January 2017, he went to the Department of Inland Revenue and insisted that he should pay income tax. Earlier, he had been paying tax for his income as a member of the music group only. He started his education at St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa until grade four, and then till finishing school in St. Peter’s College, Colombo. He was a member of the school band.
Sunil Perera Age
He was born on September 14, 1952, in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, and died on September 6, 2021. He was 68 when he passed on, a week short of his 69th birthday.
Sunil Perera Wife
He was married to his wife Geetha Kulatunga. The two had an age difference of 15 years. They are parents of four adult children.
Sunil Perera Children
With his wife, the couple has two sons – Sajith, Gayan; and two daughters – Rehana, and Manisha. His elder son Sajith is married to Tahani, the daughter of singer Dalreen Suby. Sajith worked at Ceylinco Group and currently runs his own Advertising business. Gayan is a musician who formed the popular band “Daddy”. The band produced many popular songs such as Massina, Ai Kale, Aale, Chandrayan Pidu, Dagalanna Ba. They have released two albums, The first album is ‘Massina’ and the second album is called ‘Arabiya’. Both Sajith and Gayan studied at St. Peter’s College. Rehana is a housewife and Manisha followed a course in fashion design. Both Rehana and Manisha studied at St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo.
Sunil Perera Family
He was the son of his parents: Anton Perera, and Doreen Perera. He was born into a family with ten siblings. His father Anton Perera was also an ex-army person and later a musician who formed the original Gypsies band. Anton was a clerk at the government Postal Department. His mother was Dorine Perera. Some of his siblings are Piyal Perera, Nimal Perera, Nihal Perera, and Lal Perera.
Sunil Perera Death
He died on September 6, 2021, at the age of 68 as a result of covid complications. His death was officially confirmed by his family. In August 2021, he tested positive for COVID-19, and rumors of his demise began circulating on social media. In spite of treatment, on September 5, 2021, he was re-admitted to the hospital due to pneumonia and died in the early hours of September 6, 2021. He was a week short of his 69th birthday.
Sunil Perera Cause of Death
His death came as a result of Covid related complications.
