Shankar Mahadevan
Personal details
  • Official sites :

    http://shankarmahadevan.com/

  • Born:
    • Birthday: 1967-03-03
    • Born Place: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
  • Also Known As:

    Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Shankar Mahadevan

Shankar Mahadevan

Shankar Mahadevan is an Indian singer, composer, and a prominent member of the critically acclaimed musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy that primarily composes music for Indian films. Born on March 3, 1967, in Chembur, Mumbai, into a Tamil family originally from Palakkad, Kerala, he was exposed to music from a young age, learning Hindustani classical and Carnatic music and playing the veena by age five. Despite his musical talent, he pursued and graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering from the Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and initially worked as a software engineer before transitioning fully to music. His breakthrough came in 1998 with the hugely popular Indi-pop fusion album, "Breathless," which was famous for its complex, continuous title track. Following this success, he joined Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa to form the trio, whose compositions for films like Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) established them as leading music directors in Bollywood. Mahadevan is a highly versatile playback singer, having lent his powerful voice to thousands of songs across numerous Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Marathi. His accolades include multiple National Film Awards (three for Best Male Playback Singer and one for Best Music Direction) and the civilian honor Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2019. In 2024, he also won a Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album as a member of the jazz fusion band Shakti. Beyond film music, he is a dedicated music educator, having founded the Shankar Mahadevan Academy in 2011 to teach Indian classical music online to a global audience.

Person History