Kandiah Kamalesvaran AM (Tamil: கந்தையா கமலேஸ்வரன்; born 13 November 1934), better known by his stage name Kamahl, is an Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist.

Kamahl was born on 13 November 1934 in the Brickfields district of Kuala Lumpur, Federated Malay States to Ceylonese Tamil and Hindu parents, the second eldest of six children.

From 1936-1938 the young Kamahl lived with his mother in her hometown of Jaffna in Ceylon, then returning to KL where he grew up until attending school at King's College in Adelaide, South Australia, 1953-1955.

[4] Rupert Murdoch was an early important sponsor, and tipped Kamahl £10 at a party in December 1958 and encouraged him to move to Sydney.

[4] In 1966, Kamahl was a finalist in the Sydney Eisteddfod Sun Aria, singing Verdi's "Ella giammai m'amò" and Mussorgsky's "Farewell and Death of Boris".

He released singles and albums in the United States, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, South America, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Germany (in German), as well as in the Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavia.

[17] In April 2021, the former compere Daryl Somers wrote a lengthy apology to Kamahl and to those who found the show's content offensive.

In September 2007, he appeared on The Chaser's War on Everything on ABC TV where he sang for a "newly-wed couple" who turned up uninvited at his door.

Kamahl appeared in an episode of the Australian TV quiz show Spicks and Specks, first broadcast in September 2010.

[26] He cited social media addiction as the cause of their separation, telling A Current Affair: "I'm Twittering day and night, and now, I'm paying a terrible price for it.

"[27] He remained an avid Twitter user in the aftermath of his divorce, with the vast majority of his tweets being criticism of Donald Trump, but has since deleted his account.

In 2023, Kamahl first came out against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and then changed his position to support it, leading Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to coin the phrase "Kamahl-mentum" referring to a person who "came out and said No and went away, spoke to people, read what it was about, read the question and decided that he would come out and declare his support for Yes."

[28] In May 2024, Kamahl was charged with "stalking and intimidation" concerning text messages allegedly sent to an unnamed 38-year-old woman, with NSW Police seeking an apprehended violence order against him as a result.

Screenshots of the exchange shared by Nine show the transaction description for the first $5 reading "to the molestor [sic]", and the message "I just wanted you to know that your behaviour is unacceptable and you're lucky I haven't gone to the authorities", to which Kamahl replied "You are a liar, and a failure, and most of all, an ungrateful bitch.

[30] The matter was heard before the Sutherland Local Court in June 2024, where Kamahl's lawyer Bobby Hill made a section 14 application under the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020[31] which would see the charge dismissed on mental health grounds.

Hill told the ABC he wished to have the matter "diverted away from the criminal justice system into the hands of a medical professional...

The award was organised by the Variety Club of Australia, the top entertainers of the century included Kylie Minogue, Dame Joan Sutherland, Jack Thompson and Graham Kennedy.