Supul P. De Silva

Supul (Supun) Prabash de Silva was born on Sinhala and Hindu New Year’s Day (April 14) in the year 1966 as the youngest of three sons to Reggie and Margie de Silva in the Rock City of Kurunegala, Sri Lanka, an island country just south east of India .  After his Montessori education (Pre-K and KG) he attended Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala all the way from elementary through high School. After passing his GCE advanced Levels he joined the Sri Lanka Police Department as a trainee sub-inspector and post-graduation he joined the police service as a sub inspector and served at Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and Gampaha police station. During this time, he was granted special permission to perform with various bands as a guest artist by his superiors who have already identified his talents as an exceptionally good musician. He performed with bands such as Gypsies, Sunflowers, Sunshine, Blue Shadows, Uprising and many more during this time.   He also achieved the status of a graded singer at the SLBC by successfully passing the auditions held by a committee led by professor Sanath Nandasiri. In late 1992 he migrated to California, USA, where he lived until his untimely passing on June 7, 2022.

Supun performed as the lead vocalist and percussionist/drummer with the LA based group “The Strangers” under the auspices of Vernon Fernando for over twenty years during which time he garnered a stellar reputation as a highly talented vocalist around the state as well as in other parts of USA.  He frequently performed with the band at various events where he also performed with a variety of visiting popular Sri Lankan artists such as Neela Wickremasinghe, Mariazelle Goonathilake, Damayanthi Jayasuriya, Anjaleen Gunthilake, Indrani Perera, Deepika Priyadarshini Peris, Charitha Priyadarshini Peiris, etc. Year 2005 was an incredibly significant one in Supun’s life as he tied the knot with his beloved wife-to-be Chamitha. In 2006, he released his own CD “Sudu Seethala Arunelle (Cold White Dawn) containing seventeen original songs and composed by well-known musicians such as Rohana Weerasinghe, Stanley Peris, Tilak Dias, Mahinda Bandara, Neela Wickremasinghe, Ananda Perera, and Piyal Perera (Gypsies). There were three duets on this song collection where he collaborated with female artists Neela Wickremasinghe, Samitha Mudunkotuwa and Chandralekha Perera.  He also conducted a live-concert in 2006 at Hermosa Beach, CA and a another live-show called “Jothi-Milton Rathriya” (an evening of Jothi and Milton songs) in 2014 with Chandralekha Perera singing duets with him. Supun also participated in a number of TV programs such as Chat’n’ Music, “Sihinayaki Re” (Night is a Dream), “Sundara Birinda (Beautiful Wife)”, “Batahira Ahasa “(Western Sky), Copy Chat, “Nuga Sevena” (Banyan Shade), etc. in Sri Lanka over the years.

Supun was preceded in death by his parents Reggie and Margie de Silva. Supun is survived by his loving wife Chamitha, older brothers Upul and Prasad, Sister-in-law Sharon, nephew Shane, niece Sabrine, father-in-law Punyasoma, mother-in-law Rani Sandalatha, brother-in-law Duminda, sister-in-law Nadee Chandrasena, nephews Chamika and Lokitha and sister-in-law Tilini.

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