Hariharan is a highly acclaimed Indian playback singer who sings in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu movies. Hariharan was born to renowned Carnatic vocalists and hence was exposed to music since childhood. He started training under his mother Srimati Alamelu. During his teenage, he developed a deep passion for ghazals and Hindustani classical music after listening to Jagjit Singh and Mehndi Hassan. He started practicing for nine hours a day.

After winning the All India Sur Singar competition in 1977, he was signed by famous music director, Jaidev for the film Gaman. His debut song, Ajeeb Saaneha Mujh Par Guzar Gaya Yaron was an instant hit and got him a National Award Nomination. Hariharan was introduced to Tamil cinema in 1992 by debutante music director A.R. Rahman for Mani Ratnam’s film Roja and till date, Hariharan continues to feature in many A. R. Rahman compositions like Jeans, Taal, Bombay, Iruvar, Sivaji and Guru. He was also the first Indian to feature on MTV unplugged. He has collaborated with many regional and international performers like Strings, Daler Mehndi, Liyaqat Ali, Sivamani and Zakir Hussain. He has received the prestigious Padma Sri Award and the Yesudas Award.