| Year |
Vocal Player |
Year |
Vocal Player |
| 1952 |
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar |
1980 |
Seerkhazhi S. Govindarajan |
| 1953 |
Semmangudi R. Srinivasa Iyer |
1981 |
Radha and Jayalakshmi |
| 1954 |
Mysore K. Vasudevacharya |
1982 |
T.M. Thiagarajan |
| 1955 |
Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer |
1983 |
D. K. Jayaraman |
| 1956 |
M. S. Subbulakshmi |
1984 |
Maharajapuram V. Santhanam |
| 1957 |
Musiri Subramania Iyer |
1985 |
Voleti Venkatesvarulu |
| 1958 |
Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar |
1986 |
B. Rajam Iyer |
| 1959 |
G. N. Balasubramaniam |
1987 |
Madurai N. Krishnan |
| 1960 |
Madurai Mani Iyer |
1987 |
Mani Krishnaswami" |
| 1961 |
Mudikondan C. Venkatarama Iyer |
1988 |
Nookala Chinna Satyanarayana |
| 1962 |
D. K. Pattammal |
1989 |
Titte Krishna Iyengar |
| 1963 |
B. Devendrappa |
1990 |
T. V. Sankaranarayanan |
| 1964 |
Chittoor S. Subramanyam |
1991 |
S. Rajam |
| 1965 |
T. Brinda |
1992 |
K.R. Kumaraswamy Iyer |
| 1966 |
M.R. Srirengam Iyengar |
1993 |
Trichy Swaminathan Iyer |
| 1967 |
C. Venkata Rao |
1994 |
C.S. Krishna Iyer |
| 1968 |
Alathur Srinivasa Iyer |
1995 |
R. Vedavalli |
| 1969 |
Dandapani Desigar |
1996 |
T.K. Govinda Rao |
| 1970 |
M. L. Vasanthakumari |
1997 |
M.S. Balasubramanya Sarma |
| 1971 |
N. Channakeshaviah |
2002 |
T.R. Subramanyam |
| 1972 |
T. Muktha |
2003 |
Trichur V. Ramachandran, M.A. Narasimhachar |
| 1973 |
B.S. Raja Iyengar |
2004 |
Thiruvengadu A Jayaraman |
| 1974 |
M. D. Ramanathan |
2005 |
S. V. Parthasarrathy, P. S. Narayanaswamy |
| 1975 |
M. Balamurali Krishna |
2006 |
Chingleput Ranganathan, D. Pasupathi |
| 1976 |
K.V.Narayanaswamy |
2007 |
B. Krishnamoorti |
| 1977 |
Sripada Pinakapani |
2008 |
Puranam Purushottama Sastri |
| 1978 |
Madurai S. Somasundaram |
2009 |
Parassala B Ponnammal |
| 1979 |
R K Srikanthan |
|
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Apart from the Carnatic Music (Vocal), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award is also presented to the artistes for Creative Music.
The highest national award for performing arts in India, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award was incepted in 1952. The prime body for performing arts in India, the Sangeet Natak Akademi presents the award to the committed artistes in various categories. Two of the principal categories of this award are Hindustani Music and Carnatic Music. These two categories are further divided into divisions like Vocal and Instrumental. The Instrumental divisions are again divided into several sub-categories depending on the instruments played in India. The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Carnatic Music (Vocal) has been presented to several artistes since 1954.