Nationality Sri Lankan Role Singer-songwriter | Name Rookantha Gunathilake Religion Roman Catholic | |
 | ||
Full Name Mario Glory Rookantha Goonatillake Occupation Pop-singer and Music composer Albums Roo Sanda Raa, Vol. 2, Kandulu Podak, Ran Pokunata Children Raini Charuka, Trinita Windy Similar People H R Jothipala, Chandraleka Perera, Gunadasa Kapuge, Bathiya and Santhush, W D Amaradeva | ||
Rookantha Gunathilake
Mario Glory Rookantha Gunathilake (Sinhalese: රූකාන්ත ගුණතිලක) (born 5 September 1959) is a Sri Lankan singer and songwriter. He started his career as a solo singer in late 1980s. He frequently duets with his wife Chandralekha Perera. His daughter Raini Charuka is also a singer and an actress.
Contents
Rookantha is one of the most successful musicians in Sri Lankan disco industry. His albums have sold around 10,000 copies in Sri Lanka. He is known as the person who changed the Sri Lankan music industry in the 1980s with his songs.
Early years
Rookantha Gunathilake was born in Kegalle to a middle-class family in Sri Lanka. He loved music from a very young age. As a result, his parents sent him to a music teacher nearby to teach him to play the piano.
Rookantha once said in a radio interview that one of his music teachers at school was not that friendly and punished him several times for not using correct fingering in piano. Also, he found out that he was getting restricted to what the teacher wanted him to learn.
He attended St. Mary's College, Kegalle for primary education. He learned music at his school, St. Anthony's College, Kandy from great musicians such as Stanley Peiris and Cyril Brown.
Music
Rookantha Gunathilake originally pursued a career as a composer in 1976. In 1985, he found himself without a singer to provide vocals on one of his compositions, "Bambara Pahasa." He provided the vocals himself, beginning his career as a singer.
His fourth album Charuka, named after his daughter Raini Charuka Gunathilake, was released in 1997.
The exclusive concert of Rookantha and Chandralekha is 'Ru Sanda Raye' which means "Beauty Moon Night". The first concert was staged at the Elphinston Theatre in Colombo, Sri Lanka in February 1993. To-date it has been staged in many places around the globe including Italy, France Denmark, UK, USA and Bahrain. The 'Ru Sanda Raye' concert has been staged more than 200 times and still counting.
Personal life
Rookantha is married to singer and former actress Chandralekha Perera. They have two daughters, Raini Charuka (born 10 April 1991) and Trinita Windy. Since December 2005, Rookantha and Chandralekha reside in New York City with their family.
Most recent tour, Ru Sanda Raye, took place in between 2005 and 2006.
The mega show of 'Rookantha-Chandralekha Live at Stadium' was held in August 2007 at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.