Shankar Mahadevan is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. In 2023, he was awarded a honorary doctorate (honoris causa degree) by Birmingham City University.

He learned Hindustani classical and Carnatic music as a child, and began playing the veena at the age of five under Shri Lalitha Venkataraman. Mahadevan studied music under Pandit Shrinivas Khale and T.R. Balamani.

Mahadevan got early fame as an indipop star with his fusion of Carnatic, Hindustani and Jazz. At that time, his non-film album, Breathless topped the Indian music charts in 1998.