Famous mandolin player and musician Uppalapu Srinivas, popularly known as Mandolin Srinivas, died in Chennai on September 19, 2014 at a private hospital after a failed liver transplant. He was 45. The maestro is survived by his parents, a brother (also an accomplished Mandolin player) and a sister. Born in the tiny village of Palakolu, in West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, Uppalapu was considered a child prodigy, who picked up his father Sathyanarayana's mandolin at the age of six and went about his first stage performance at the age of 9 at the Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival in Gudivada in Andhra Pradesh.