Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya (శ్రీ తాళ్ళపాక అన్నమాచార్య) (1408-1503), the mystic saint composer of the 15th century is the earliest known musician of South India to compose songs called “sankeertanas” in praise of Lord Venkateswara, the deity of Seven Hills in Tirumala, India. He is widely regarded as the Telugu "pada kavita pitaamaha" (Grand old man of simple poetry). Wikipedia
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Annamacharya. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annamacharya