Rathnayake was born on 7 November 1947 in a small village near Kadugannawa as the fourth of the family with 10 siblings. His father was Rathnayake Arachchilage Don James. He was popularly known as Rathnayake Veda Mahaththaya, was an apothecary and sang "noorthi gee," a type of Sinhala folk songs. His mother was Abeykoon Mayadunnelage Sumanawathi. He was educated at Kadugannawa Junior School and then attended to Kadugannawa Maha Vidyalaya for secondary education. He learned music under K.M. Sugathapala at the school.

 

One of his elder brothers, Victor Rathnayake is a renowned musician in Sri Lanka. Victor has two daughters and two sons from first marriage with Chithra Rathnayake. His daughter Chandani is a dancer and a vocalist. His elder son Jayantha Rathnayake was a renowned musician and composer. Jayantha started his music career as the keyboard player in Sihashakthi musical band. Jayantha was married as has one daughter and one son. His younger son Lelum is also a musician and singer who worked in a musical band. On 6 April 2020, Jayantha Rathnayake died at the age of 52 while receiving treatments at Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama.

 

In 1960s, he joined with farmer's army. After few years of work, then he joined with Wildlife Department. He worked in the job for only one month. He was married to longtime partner, Mary Margaret Mayadunne. He met Mary during music classes at Heywood academy. They married in September 1970. It was the only day that he shaved his beard completely. She is a retired music teacher. The couple has four children, where one died at very small age. His daughter and two sons are not related to music.

 

On 17 July 2017, he was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital due to a sudden illness. He died on 18 July 2017 at the age of 69 while receiving treatments. The remains were placed at his residence at No: 78/C, Bopitiya Road, Uswetakeiyawa. The funeral took place on 20 July 2017 at the Hunupitiya Cemetery.

 

from Wiki