Sunil Perera

Uswatta Liyanage Ivor Sylvester Sunil Perera (Sinhala: සුනිල් පෙරේරා; 14 September 1952 – 6 September 2021) was a Sri Lankan vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and composer. Described as one of the most influential musicians in Sri Lankan music history, Perera was the leader and the lead vocalist of The Gypsies. He was associated with Sri Lanka's baila genre, and gained the nickname "Baila Cakrawarti".

Personal life Perera was born on 14 September 1952, in a family with ten siblings. His father, Anton Perera, was in the military before becoming a musician and forming the original Gypsies band. Anton was a clerk at the government Postal Department and also run a sweet production company called "Glucorasa". His mother was Dorine Perera. He started his education at St. Sebastian's College, Moratuwa until grade four and then until finishing school in the St Peter's College, Colombo. During his school days he was also a member of the college band. When he was 11 years old, he became a guitarist.

Perera was married to Geetha Perera (née Kulatunga) who was born on 18 March 1967, whom he met while she was studying for her O/L classes.

He had two sons: Sajith and Gayan, and two daughters: Rehana and Maneesha. His younger son, Gayan is a musician who formed the band "Daddy". His nephew, Lanthra Perera is also a musician and the founder-member of the band "Doctor".

Death In August 2021, Perera tested positive for COVID-19 and rumors of his death started circulating on social media. In spite of treatment, on 5 September, he was re-admitted to hospital due to pneumonia and died in the early hours of 6 September 2021, at age 68.

Musical career At the age of 11, he started to play guitar. Sunil later conveyed his interest in music to his father. In 1969, at the age of 15 when he left school, Sunil joined the band The Gypsies created by his father, Anton Perera, along with his brothers – Nihal, Lal, Nimal, Piyal and uncle's son Neville; there were seven of the crew in all. He learned guitar under Vincent Jayawardane and George Ferdinando and had voice training under Loren Abeysekara, Lily Godridge and Maryanne David.

Later, The Gypsies group consisted of his own brothers and cousins. Accordingly, Nihal, Lal, Nimal and Piyal formed a group of seven including two cousins. Sunil was the main vocalist of the band, along with his brother Piyal Perera. His father also built a studio for the band next to the house on Galle Road in Ratmalana where they were staying at the time. In the '70s, they released nearly 5 albums titled 'Dance with Gypsies'. In the mid-1970s, his other brothers left the band and got involved in business activities. 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). Their song 'Lunu Dehi' released in 1987 was a song that made an amazing difference on the concert stage in the country. In the year 1997, they changed the course of the music field with the song "Piti Kotapan None". In 2019, he sang the song "Diyawannawe Inna" for the film Jaya Sri Amathithuma.

The band The Gypsies celebrated their Golden Jubilee in 2021 by arranging a concert via virtual platforms.

Ideology Sunil Perera recently came up with his own ideology about the sociopolitical situation in the country. He was highly critical of Sri Lankan society and politics. He was also a vocal critic of the administration of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa over the years. In 2015, he revealed that he was afraid of being a target of the Rajapaksa family when Mahinda Rajapakse lost the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election.

Filmography

Year Film Roles Ref. 1989 Shakthiya Obai Amme Playback Singer 1995 Chitti Playback Singer 2001 Mahadena Muththai Golayo Roththai Playback Singer 2001 Hai Hui Babi Achchi Playback Singer; Bele Kade Saima 'Kapirimudukuwe Gotaimbre' 2002 Bahubuthayo Playback Singer 2005 One Shot Playback Singer; Minister Pushpakumara 2007 Sikuru Hathe Playback Singer 2008 Wada Bari Tarzan Mathisabayata Playback Singer 2009 Leader Playback Singer, Lyricist 2011 King Hunther Playback Singer 2013 Peeter One Himself, cameo role 2014 Ko Mark No Mark Playback Singer 2019 Jaya Sri Amathithuma Composer, Playback Singer 2023 Gajaman Magodisthuma (Voice)

Discography Ma Nowana Mama

Dance With The Gypsies Vol. 1

Dance With The Gypsies Vol. 3

Signore

Dance With The Gypsies Vol. 5

Gypsies Gold

Koththamalli