PUNE: Legendary classical singer Prabha Atre passed away following a brief illness at a private hospital here on Saturday, family sources said.

Prabha was 91 and had complained of some breathing issues, but succumbed when she reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest while being rushed to a private hospital this morning.

Conferred the Padmashri (1990), Padma Bhushan (2002) and Padma Bhushan (2022), plus many other national-international honours, Prabha was an exponent of the Kirana Gharana music school, excelling in rendition of khayals, thumris, ghazal, dadri, bhajans and natyasangeet.

Prabha had penned books on music composition -- ‘Swarangini’ and ‘Swaranjanee’, is credited with inventing new Raagas like ‘Apurva Kalyan’, ‘Madhur Kauns’, ‘Darbari Kauns’, ‘Patdeep-Malhar’, ‘Shiv Kali’, ‘Tilang-Bhairav’ and ‘Ravi Bhairav’.

She composed music for a full-length dance recital ‘Natya Prabha’, a music composition adapted for jazz by a top Netherlands artist, and also created music for musical-dramas or sangeetikas.