Swarnalatha was an Indian playback singer. In a career spanning almost twenty-two years (1987-till her death), she recorded over 7,000 songs in many languages including Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Oriya, Punjabi and Badaga.

She won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her rendition of the song "Porale Ponnuthayi" from the film Karuththamma. The song was composed by A. R. Rahman, under whose musical direction she recorded many memorable songs. And she was the first female playback singer to get a National Award In AR Rahman Music. Her distinctive voice, which could effortlessly reach high octaves, quickly made her a name to reckon with in the playback music industry.