B. R. Chaya

B. R. Chaya (Kannada: ಬಿ. ಆರ್. ಛಾಯಾ) is an Indian playback singer, stage performer and a popular Sugama Sangeetha singer from Karnataka state. She has performed as a singer for over 300 feature films and recorded for over 10,000 musical albums ranging from pop, folk, devotional and bhavageethe (light music). She is affectionately known as the "Nightingale of Karnataka"and a Rajyotsava Prashasti recipient from the State Government of Karnataka.
Chaya owns an audio company called "Kinnari Audio" that focus on encouraging the new budding musical talents to launch their own musical albums. She also owns a popular music band "B. R. Chaya & Party" that conducts various musical programs across Karnataka state.

Chaya, hailing from Karnataka state, was a great music lover right from her childhood and was even called a "child prodigy" with her in depth knowledge in music.

Chaya was initially noticed by the south Indian musical meastro Ilaiyaraaja who made her sing quite a few tracks for his Tamil and Telugu films. But she got a big break in her first Kannada film recording with music director Vijaya Bhaskar for the film Amrutha Ghalige. The song "Hindustanavu Endoo Mareyada" for this film became a huge hit and Chaya got instant recognition and accolades. This was a duet song with P. Jayachandran. She refers to Vijaya Bhaskar as her Guru.

Chaya continued to sing many popular songs in films and also branched out to sing hundreds of songs for private albums. She recorded many duet songs with all the veterans of her time like M. Balamurali Krishna, P. B. Sreenivas, K. J. Yesudas and S. P. Balasubramanyam. She worked under many music composers like Rajan-Nagendra, Vijaya Bhaskar, Upendra Kumar, M. Ranga Rao, Hamsalekha, V. Manohar, C.Ashwath, H.K.Narayan among others.

In the latter part of her career, she has performed for the Kannada Associations of United States of America (all most all major cities of USA), Australia, New Zealand, Baharain, Dubai, Singapore on their invitations.

Chaya was born on October 16 and completed her graduation at RV College in Bangalore. She is married to Padmapani Jodidar and is residing in Bangalore, India.

• 2010 - Karnataka Rajyotsava Prashasti
• 1988 - Karnataka State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Kaadina Benki
• 1994 - Karnataka State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer - Rashmi