Chinnaponnu was born in Suranam, a small village in Sivagangai district, Tamil Nadu, India.

Soon afterwards, she began singing professionally in the troupe of fellow folk artist Kottaisamy, whom she credits as a mentor.

In the same year she was also one of the artists featured in the theme song for the World Classical Tamil Conference 2010, composed by A. R. Rahman, with a video directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon.

In June 2011, she appeared on MTV Coke Studio television series in the episodes 'Vethalai' and 'Tere Naam' along with singer Kailash Kher and Papon.

A different version of "Nakku Mukka" (with changed lyrics) was featured in a short Times of India ad film entitled A Day in the Life of Chennai, which won two Gold Lions at Cannes in 2009.

In 2021, Chinnaponnu participated in the reality show Bigg Boss Tamil Season 5 and became the only aged female contestant to survive in the house for 4 weeks.