චිත්රාල් සෝමපාල
20 songs performed
Chitral Somapala (චිත්රාල් සෝමපාල), widely known as Chity Somapala and born Chandana Chitral Somapala on 4 November 1966 in Colombo, is a Sri Lankan rock and heavy metal vocalist who also sings in Sinhala. He is one of the few Sri Lankan artists to have fronted a string of European power metal bands, while at home he is remembered first for the 1998 hit Nadee Ganga.
Chitral Somapala was born into one of Sri Lanka’s well-known musical households. His parents, P. L. A. Somapala and Chithra Somapala (Chithra Perera), were both singers, music directors, and producers, so he grew up surrounded by recording and performance. He began his own career in the mid 1980s, touring with the group Rendezvous in 1986 and later with Court Jester, work that pointed him toward the European rock scene rather than the local stage.
Through the 2000s, Chity Somapala built a reputation across Europe as a power metal vocalist. He recorded and toured with Firewind, the German progressive band Avalon, the melodic rock project Faro, and Red Circuit, and he briefly fronted the British band Power Quest. In 2006 he founded his own band, Civilization One, whose album Revolution Rising appeared in 2007. He has performed at major festivals including Wacken Open Air and ProgPower USA, a rare path for a Sri Lankan singer.
Somapala’s best known Sinhala recording is Nadee Ganga (නදී ගංගා), first recorded in 1998 as a commercial jingle and quickly adopted as a standalone song. For years his Sinhala output sat alongside his metal work, with tracks such as Miriguwa Parada (මිරිඟුව පරදා), Me Wage Adarayak, and Malakuth Thibuna finding an audience at home.
In 2017 his playback vocal for Aharenna from the film Let Her Cry won Best Playback Vocalist at the SIGNIS Awards, and the recognition carried into a Presidential Award. The following year he released the album Dambulugale (2018), a set of Baila-rooted songs honouring his parents’ legacy and timed to the 70th anniversary of Sri Lankan independence; the title track lives here as Dambulu Gale. That project marked his fuller return to Sinhala music, which he now performs alongside his rock catalogue.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Chitral Somapala.