[1] Born in a Hindu Kayastha family in Katni, Shrivastava got his first big break with the film Kanyadaan in 1993.

[citation needed] In 1995, Shrivastava was a judge on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.[citation needed] Shrivastava sang a number of hit songs such as "Sona Sona", "Shava Shava", "Gustakhiyaan" and "Gur Nalon Ishq Mitha".

[3][4] In 2009, he made a cameo in the film World Cupp 2011 and returned to television as a judge on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009.

[5] On the international front, Shrivastava has collaborated with artists such as Akon,[6] Julia Fordham[7] and Wyclef Jean.

[8] Together with Akon, he has launched an India-wide talent search on the website hitlab.com which uses music analysis technology to predict the hit potential of new songs.

He died, in a coma, at 12:30 A.M. IST at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital & Medical Research Institute, Mumbai, on 5 September 2015, a day after his 51st birthday.