ප්රියා සූරියසේන
60 songs performed
Priya Sooriyasena (also spelled Priya Suriyasena; Sinhala: ප්රියා සූරියසේන) was a Sri Lankan playback singer, music teacher and composer whose warm, restrained voice carried some of the most-loved Sinhala love songs of the 1970s and 1980s. Born Madawala Liyanage Don Sarathchandra Priyadarshi Suriyasena Liyanage on 27 October 1944 in Nattandiya, he is remembered for recordings such as Ratakin Eha and Atha Ran Wiman that remain in steady rotation on Sri Lankan radio.
Suriyasena grew up in a household shaped by his father, a poet, and trained as a vocalist before turning professional. He first reached listeners in 1968 through baila numbers, then moved to mainstream song in the early 1970s. His breakthrough came when his first four recordings were broadcast by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, which brought him close to overnight recognition.
Across his career he worked with leading music directors including Clarence Wijewardena, Sarath Dassanayake and Stanley Peiris, and built a lasting partnership with lyricist Premakeerthi de Alwis. The Clarence Wijewardena composition Ratakin Eha, with words by Premakeerthi de Alwis, is among the best known of these pairings. Beyond performing, Suriyasena composed his own material, directed music for other artists and taught, a teaching role that shaped a later generation of singers.
Lyrics-lk hosts a broad selection of his recordings with Sinhala lyrics, transliteration and English translation. Some of the songs most associated with Priya Suriyasena include:
Priya Sooriyasena died on 24 December 2024 in Colombo at the age of 80. His appeal rested on tenderness rather than display: a clear, unhurried delivery that let the lyric lead. For Sri Lankan listeners at home and across the diaspora, his songs remain tied to memory and to the golden era of Sinhala light music.
Every Sinhala lyric, composition, and song credit by Priya Sooriyasena.