මරියසෙල් ගුණතිලක
17 songs performed · 1 lyric written
Mariazelle Goonetilleke (මරියසෙල් ගුණතිලක, also romanized Mariyasel Gunathilaka) was a Sri Lankan singer whose career spanned western pop, rock, and Sinhala baila from the 1960s until her death on 10 July 2026. She is most widely identified with her 1977 hit Kandy Lamissi (කැන්ඩි ලමිස්සි), a song so closely linked to her that audiences came to know her by its name.
Born in Nugegoda, a suburb of Colombo, Mariazelle began performing as a child and won the junior section of the Ceylon Observer All Island Talent Competition at the age of ten. That win brought her into the Junior Rhythmiers, a group of young musicians who gained a following in the 1960s through appearances on Radio Ceylon, the oldest broadcasting service in South Asia.
Mariazelle performed with bands including the Emeralds and Midnight Mist before her recording of Kandy Lamissi in 1977 became an instant success and the turning point of her career. The hit opened the way to a touring life, and she went on to perform for Sri Lankan audiences at home and across the diaspora in the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Australia.
Across her catalogue she moved easily between styles, from western pop to the up-tempo rhythms of baila, singing in Sinhala, English, Tamil and Hindi, a versatility that kept her in demand on the live circuit for decades.
Over her career Mariazelle worked alongside several leading figures of Sri Lankan popular music, among them M. S. Fernando, Sunil Perera, and Desmond de Silva. Her recordings drew on the songwriting of Clarence Wijewardene and the lyricist Ajantha Ranasinghe, central names in the era that shaped modern Sinhala pop.
Often described as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost female baila and pop voices, Mariazelle Goonetilleke performed almost to the end of her life, and her songs continue to draw diaspora listeners decades after they were first recorded. The romanization Mariyasel Gunathilaka also appears in some catalogues, but Mariazelle Goonetilleke is the spelling she used throughout her career.
Mariazelle Goonetilleke died in the early hours of 10 July 2026 at the Kalubowila Teaching Hospital in Colombo, where she had been receiving treatment following a prolonged illness. She was 68. Her remains lay in state at a funeral parlour in Borella so the public could pay their final respects, and the final rites were held at the Borella General Cemetery on 13 July 2026.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Mariazelle Goonetilleke.