Hariharan, born 3 April 1955 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is an Indian classical and playback singer whose music has been featured in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu films, an established ghazal singer, and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music. He is a two-time recipient of the National Award for playback singing and was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the Govt. of India in 2004. Hariharan grew up in Bombay and holds bachelor's degrees in science and law.