Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tamil Iyer family from Palakkad, Kerala. He learned Hindustani classical and Carnatic music in childhood, and began playing the veena at age five. Mahadevan studied music under Shrinivas Khale, a Marathi composer, and attended Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School (OLPS) in Chembur.[citation needed] He subsequently attended SIES College in Sion, completing his HSC.[citation needed] Mahadevan graduated in 1988 with a degree in computer science and software engineering from the Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology in Navi Mumbai, affiliated to Mumbai University, and was a software engineer for Leading Edge. His wife Sangeeta is Maharashtrian and oldest son Siddharth Mahadevan, also a singer, made his debut on the 2013 Bhaag Milkha Bhaag song "Zinda".[citation needed] His youngest son, Shivam Mahadevan, also a singer made his debut in 2013 Dhoom 3 song Bande Hain Hum Uske.[citation needed] Mahadevan is fluent in Tamil, Marathi, Hindi, and English.
After working for Leading Edge Systems (now Trigyn Technologies Limited), Mahadevan ventured into music. Mahadevan was noted for the release of his first album (Breathless) in 1998. The album's title track was engineered to seem to be sung in one breath, hence its title.[citation needed] He later ventured into music direction and became part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio, composing for Hindi films.
He received his first award as a playback singer in a Tamil movie, collaborating with A. R. Rahman and winning a National Film Award for Kandukondain Kandukondain.[citation needed] Well known in the Kodambakkam film industry, he has worked with several top composers including Rahman, Ilaiyaraaja, Deva, Yuvan Shankar Raja (for whom he has sung the maximum number of songs in Tamil), Harris Jayaraj, Vidyasagar, Mani Sharma, Devi Sri Prasad, G. V. Prakash Kumar, Vijay Antony, D. Imman, S. Thaman, Anirudh Ravichander and others. He also made a special appearance in the visualization of the song "Thaniye" from Rhythm, which was sung by himself.[citation needed] In addition, Mahadevan has sung for every major hero in Tamil cinema including Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, though he is better known for the several hit songs he has delivered for contemporary stars Ajith Kumar and Vijay. His song "Manmatha Rasa" from Thiruda Thirudi was a chartbuster and remains hugely popular.[citation needed]
Mahadevan has sung in many films for A. R. Rahman, Anu Malik and other music directors; his songs include "Urvashi Take It Easy" from Humse Hai Muqabla (1995), "I Love You" from Auzaar (1997) and "Kay Sera Sera" from Pukar (2000). He has composed most of his Hindi songs (as part of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy), and has sung Tamil songs by a number of composers.[citation needed] Mahadevan has also sung in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi (for composers including Shridhar Phadke Kaushal Inamdar and Ajay-Atul) and other regional languages. He was part of the fusion jazz band Silk, with Louis Banks on keyboards, Sivamani on percussion, Sridhar Parthasarathy on mridangam and Karl Peters on bass.[citation needed]
Mahadevan has also sung for Remember Shakti, featuring Zakir Hussain, Chandan Sharma, John McLaughlin, U. Srinivas and V. Selvaganesh. He was music director for School Chale Hum on Doordarshan and a mentor on the Zee TV musical reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009.[citation needed]
Mahadevan is a team captain, judge and mentor on the Star Plus musical show Music Ka Maha Muqqabla for the Shankar's Rockstars team, which won Music Ka Maha Muqqabala 2010.[citation needed] In 2008 and 2010 he performed at PULSE, India's second-largest intercollegiate festival, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.[citation needed] In March 2009 Mahadevan performed at Ragam 09, an intercollegiate cultural festival hosted by the National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NITC) in Kerala.[citation needed] In February 2010 he performed at Kuruksastra 10, an intercollegiate cultural festival hosted by the SASTRA University, Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu.[citation needed]
In March 2011 Mahadevan founded the Shankar Mahadevan Academy along with Sridhar Ranganathan, his classmate and friend from his college days. The academy offers tutorials and virtual with live teachers for vocal courses in Carnatic and Hindustani classical music, religious chanting, Indian folk music, Indie music[5] and Bollywood songs.[citation needed]
He was invited by UNESCO and the US State Department to perform at the UN General Assembly hall for the finale of the International Jazz Festival on 30 April 2012.[citation needed] Mahadevan is a mentor on the Zee TV musical reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2012.[citation needed]
In 2013 the singer, Ehsaan and Loy performed a well-received, five-hour benefit concert for Lok Biradari Prakalp in Nagpur.[citation needed] On 7 February they performed at the day-two Pro Show of Riviera 2013 (the intercollegiate cultural festival of VIT University), Mahadevan's third performance at the campus. On 17 March 2013 he performed at Ragam 13, his second appearance at the festival.[citation needed] He also sang Telugu songs in movies such as Attarintiki Daredi, Gabbar Singh, Dookudu, and Brindavanam.
This is his official number.
