Sunil Perera: Sri Lanka’s larger than life music legend dies at 68 By Ranga Sirilal and Ayeshea Perera Source:-www.bbc.com His songs have pulled people on to dance floors at weddings and parties for decades. Sunil Perera, one of the stalwarts of Sri Lanka’s baila genre – a memento of Portuguese colonisation – died on Monday aged 68, his family said. He is believed to have died of Covid-related complications. Along with his band The Gypsies, Sunil wrote and performed songs with catchy tunes and clever lyrics, often about Sri Lankan life and politics. His song Uncle Johnson from 1987 related a hilarious tale of a ruined wedding anniversary party, while Signore focused on the laments of a defeated politician berating his ungrateful voters. Saima Cut Vela gave advice to a hysterical young woman convinced her husband was fatally ill when in fact he was just drunk. “It was his presence on stage, the character of the man, the rhythms, text and musicality that The Gypsies bring to us that has…
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