Artist Bio: Hariharan

Date of Birth: April 3, 1955
Place of Birth: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Father’s Name: H.A.S Mani
Mother’s Name: Shrimati Alamelu
Spouse: Lalitha
Profession: Singer and composer
Son’s: Akshay and Karan
Studies: Degree in law and science

Hariharan was born to H.A.S Mani who was a chief in ‘Sangeet Vidhyalaya’ but unfortunately died when Hariharan was only eight. His mother was his support after his father sad demise and was also having a musical background. She was his teacher of Carnatic music and later he completed his training in Hindustani classical music from Ghulam Mustafa Khan. There he learnt different ways and imaginative techniques that can bring revolutionary improvisations in one’s singing. Hariharan was inspired from the great singers, Jagjit Singh and Mehndi Hasan and wanted to enter as a ghazal singer like these two living legends. For this reason he started learning Urdu with determination. But his extreme potential of singing made Jaidev, the famous music director, approach him to sing for his movie ‘Gaman’. He made his debut with the song ‘Ajeeb saane he Mujh par karaar’ that came out to be a big hit in Uttar Pradesh and fetched him the ‘Uttar Pradesh best singer award’. In addition, this song also brought him the nomination for the best national singer award. Hariharan also released many ghazal albums among which ‘Gulfam’ not only turned to be a super hit but also recorded high sales. Hariharan received Diva award for the best album of the year. He had also voiced for many Tamil films and set an example by singing “Thamizha Thamizha” a patriotic track from the movie Roja. ‘Tu hi re’ was one of the compositions for which he was honored with Tamil Nadu State Government Awards. Hariharan sung more than 500 songs in Tamil which is a record in itself. Hariharan has also tired his hand in acting and performed in a Tamil movie “Power of Women”. The year 2004 was a watershed year for Hariharan’s singing career as he got the prominent Padma Shri and Yesudas award for his contribution to the Indian music Industry. Hariharan has also collaborated with a Pakistani band ‘Strings’ and sung a track named ‘bolo bolo’. His upcoming album is ‘Lahore ke rang, Hari ke sang’. Hariharan is fond of music and traveling and is a firm believer of Lord Ganesha. In an interview he uncovered the mystery of his pony tail by saying that all his strength comes from his pony tail. Hariharan finds remix singing quite technical and not as easy as it hears.