New Delhi: Born and raised in a Tamil Iyer family at Mumbai's Chembur sub-urb, Shankar was trained in both Hindustani classical and Carnatic music since childhood.
Mahadevan graduated in 1988 with a degree in computer science and software engineering from the Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology in Navi Mumbai'.
The musician cum singer is married to Sangeetha and they have two children Siddharth and Shivam Mahadevan.
In a career spanning 18 years, Shankar effortlessly has lent his voice to Tamil Telugu, Hindi English, Urdu, Kannada, Punjabi songs.
Music analysts believe there is hardly anyone in the industry who can match the versatalilty and the kind of control Shankar has on his craft.
Here are some facts about this musical genius:
1) Before chosing a full fledged career in music, Shankar worked as a software programmer in Oracle.
2) He won an unprecedented four National Film Awards. He was named Best Male Playback Singer for the song "Bolo Na" in 2012.He won the prestigious National Award for the songs "Yenna Solla Pogirai" (Kandukondain Kandukondain), Kal Ho Naa Ho (as part of Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy), "Maa" (Taare Zameen Par), "Bolo Na" (Chittagong). He is also a receipient of the Kerala State Film Award for the song "Kalyaana Kacheri" from Mohanlal starrer "Madampi."
3) Mahadevan came into limelight after his music album Breathless was released in 1998. The album's USP was its title track that was engineered to seem to be sung in one breath, hence its title.
4) Mahadevan has also sung for Remember Shakti, featuring Zakir Hussain, Chandan Sharma, John McLaughlin, U. Srinivas and V. Selvaganesh.
5) Mahadevan has dabbled into music direction with two of his associates guitarist Ehsaan Noorani and pianist Loy Mendosa and has composed some of the most famous songs of bollywood e.g. Kal Ho Na Ho, Dil Chahta Hai,ZNMD, Rock On
6) Shankar Mahadevan has done a jugalbandi in Raag Yaman with the likes of Ustad Rashid Khan Saheb, the doyen of Hindustani classical music .
7) Mahadevan is also an excellent cook. His wife believes if he had not been a singer, he would have been a chef.
8) Shankar launched the Shankar Mahadevan Academy along with Sridhar Ranganathwith in 2011 which provided live teachers for vocal courses in Carnatic and Hindustani classical music, religious chanting, Indian folk music and Bollywood songs.
9) Shankar has also acted in a Marathi film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali in 2015 and a Doordrshan serial Ek se badhkar ek in 1996.
10) 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.
