Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (September 16, 1916 - December 11, 2004) popularly known as M.S. was a renowned Carnatic vocalist. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna.

     M.S.Subbulakhsmi was born to a musical family, in the temple town of Madurai. M.S. started learning Carnatic music from a very early age and released her first recording at the age of 10. Since then, she performed countless musical forms in different languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Sanskrit and Kannada. M.S. became famous as a film actress. Her most memorable role was Bhaktha Meera in Meera (1945). M.S. met Sadasivam, a freedom fighter, and a follower of Rajaji, in 1936. She married him in 1940 and their marriage spanned over 50 years. They had no children.

     M.S. travelled to London, New York, Canada, the Far East, and other places as India's cultural ambassador. Her concerts at Carnegie Hall, New York; the UN General Assembly on UN day in 1966 (while U Thant was the Secretary General); the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1982; and at the Festival of India in Moscow in 1987 were significant landmarks in her career.

     Mahatma Gandhi was so charmed of her Meera bhajans that he requested her to sing the song Hari Tum haro. She regretfully declined as she had a cold that day. A prompt reply came back from the mahatma's side saying "I would gladly hear subbulakshmi speak it than hear it sung by others".

     She was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1954, Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1968, Ramon Magsaysay award in 1974, Padma Vibhushan in 1975, Kalidasa Samman in 1988, the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 1990, and the Bharat Ratna in 1998. She was also honored as the court-singer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.

     With the death of her husband Sadasivam in 1997, she stopped all her public performances. M.S. died on December 11, 2004.