මරියසෙල් ගුණතිලක
17 songs performed · 1 lyric written
Mariazelle Goonetilleke (මරියසෙල් ගුණතිලක, also romanized Mariyasel Gunathilaka) is a Sri Lankan singer whose career has spanned western pop, rock, and Sinhala baila since the 1960s. 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 has since performed 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, 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 remains an active performer whose 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 has used throughout her career.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Mariazelle Goonetilleke.