Musicians - Clarence Wijewardene

Home > Listing Index > Musicians > Clarence Wijewardene

	Musicians - Clarence Wijewardene

Clarence Wijewardene (August 3, 1943 - December 13, 1996) is an important Sri Lankan musician, who introduced the electric guitar to Sinhala music, and had a successful career that spanned several decades.

Life and career

Wijewardene was born on August 3, 1943, in Haputale, Sri Lanka, to an estate doctor. His family moved to Butugedere in Ratnapura in 1964. There Wijewardene eloped with the daughter of a landlord, before abandoned a planting career to pursue music full time.

Wijewardene then formed the band Moonstones, which featured a young singer named Annesley Malewana as the lead singer. After appearing in the early 1960s, they consistently had hits up till the end of the decade, revolutinizing Sinhala music in the process.

In 1970, Wijewardene formed the Golden Chimes with singer Anil Bharathi. This collabaration ended in 1972, when Malawana and Wijewardene got back together to form the Super Golden Chimes. In 1978, when Malawana left music, Wijewardene began a solo career, which would prove to be fruitful like his earlier ventures.

Wijewardene also wrote songs for other artists, and composed music for films like Sikuruliya and teledramas like "Susima" and "Nidiumba Mal" during his lifetime. He passed away on December 13, 1996 at the age of 53 in Sri Lanka.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Clarence Wijewardene ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Clarence Wijewardene; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay