ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන
80 songs performed · 84 compositions · 39 lyrics written
Clarence Wijewardena (also spelled Clarence Wijewardana; Sinhala: ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන; born Vithana Kuruppu Arachchilage Clarence Arthur Somasinghe Wijewardena, 3 August 1943 to 13 December 1996) was a Sri Lankan singer, composer, and guitarist widely regarded as the father of Sri Lankan pop. By bringing the electric guitar into Sinhala popular music in the 1960s, he reshaped the sound of a generation.
Clarence was born in Haputale in 1943, the son of an estate medical practitioner, and grew up after the family moved to Batugedara in the Ratnapura district. He set aside a budding career as a planter to pursue music full time, teaching himself the guitar at a time when the instrument was still a novelty in Sinhala song.
At the age of 21 Clarence formed The Moonstones, with Annesley Malewana as lead vocalist. Mentored by the advertising figure Sri Sangabo Corea and given airtime by Radio Ceylon broadcasters, the band reached a wide audience through the Saturday Star programme in 1966. Their 1968 debut EP Mango Nanda, released on the Philips label, carried the Clarence composition Ruwan Puraya alongside the title track. A second release on the Sooriya label followed the same year, and Mango Nanda was later named best Sinhala song on Radio Ceylon’s Hit Parade.
After leaving the Moonstones in 1970, Clarence formed the Golden Chimes in January 1971 with the former Moonstones bassist Chanaka Perera and the vocalist Lankika Perera. The group’s early releases included Mage Pel Pathe Ma and Mage Wiyowen, songs that remain among his best loved.
Across both bands and a long solo career, Clarence Wijewardana worked as singer, composer, and music director, and his guitar-led arrangements became a template for Sinhala pop that outlived him. He died in Colombo on 13 December 1996 at the age of 53. His songs, from the playful Kiri Kiri Kiri Bello to the enduring Moratuwa Moratuwa, are still played across Sri Lankan radio and among the diaspora.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Clarence Wijewardena.
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Lilanthi Karunanayake (ලීලන්ති කරුණානායක)
Performed by: Anil Barathi (අනිල් භාරති), Christmas Carols (නත්තල් කැරෝල්ස්)
Performed by: George Senanayake (ජෝජ් සේනානායක), Jackson Anthony (ජැක්සන් ඇන්තනී)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Anjalin Gunathilaka (ඇන්ජලින් ගුණතිලක), Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන), Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Annesley Malawana (ඇනස්ලි මාලේවන), Lilanthi Karunanayake (ලීලන්ති කරුණානායක)
Performed by: Milton Perera (මිල්ටන් පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Annesley Malawana (ඇනස්ලි මාලේවන), Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Mervin Mihindukula (මර්වින් මිහිදුකුල)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා), Priyantha Fernando (ප්රියන්ත ප්රනාන්දු)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි), Rukmani Devi (රුක්මිණි දේවි)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන), George Senanayake (ජෝජ් සේනානායක), Jackson Anthony (ජැක්සන් ඇන්තනී)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා), Vernon Perera (වර්නන් පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: HR Jothipala (ජෝතිපාල H R), Sujatha Aththnayake (සුජාතා අත්තනායක)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Surendra Perera (සුරේන්ද්ර පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Manik Kurukulasuriya (මැණික් කුරුකුලසූරිය)
Performed by: Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Mariazelle Goonetilleke (මරියසෙල් ගුණතිලක)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Lilanthi Karunanayake (ලීලන්ති කරුණානායක)
Performed by: George Senanayake (ජෝජ් සේනානායක), Jackson Anthony (ජැක්සන් ඇන්තනී)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන), Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Annesley Malawana (ඇනස්ලි මාලේවන), Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Mervin Mihindukula (මර්වින් මිහිදුකුල)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන), George Senanayake (ජෝජ් සේනානායක), Jackson Anthony (ජැක්සන් ඇන්තනී)
Performed by: Clarence Wijewardena (ක්ලැරන්ස් විජේවර්ධන)
Performed by: Milton Mallawarachchi (මිල්ටන් මල්ලවාරච්චි)
Performed by: Surendra Perera (සුරේන්ද්ර පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Manik Kurukulasuriya (මැණික් කුරුකුලසූරිය)
Performed by: Indrani Perera (ඉන්ද්රාණි පෙරේරා)
Performed by: Mariazelle Goonetilleke (මරියසෙල් ගුණතිලක)