Nimal Mendis

Nimal Mendis is a Sri Lankan singer and songwriter. He is one of a handful of Sri Lankan musicians to make it to the BBC television programme Top of the Pops in 1968.

Mendis was discovered in the late 1950s by Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia. The radio station dominated the airwaves in South Asia in the 1950s and 1960s—the station backed his songs from the start, including "Kandyan Express", turning them into hits in South Asia. People from all over the Indian sub-continent wrote in to Radio Ceylon requesting his songs.

Mendis had been involved with music from his childhood, and has lived for many years in London travelling often to Sri Lanka. He lived in Uxbridge with his wife Ranjani. Currently he has moved to Sri Lanka and started working on a Sri Lankan film.

Mendis was so moved by the devastation of the 2004 tsunami that he composed a Tsunami song to aid the victims. British Parliamentarians commended his composition in a motion in the House of Commons. The British Parliamentarian, Linda Perham MP sponsored early day motion 638.

His Tsunami song has been recorded in Australia, Canada, the United States, Germany, Sri Lanka, and in the United Kingdom.

Early years: 1950s–1960s

Nimal has 22 songs published in Britain and has written music for films in Sri Lanka. "Kiss Kiss Kiss" was Nimal's first song that was recorded in Britain and sung by Mary Marshall on the Columbia label. "Kandyan Express", "Cherry Blossom...
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