In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (honoris causa degree) by Birmingham City University.

[1] Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tamil family originally from Palakkad, Kerala.

[2][3][4][5] He learned Hindustani classical and Carnatic music as a child, and began playing the veena at the age of five under Shri Lalitha Venkataraman.

[8] He is an alumnus of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School, Chembur and graduated in 1988 with a degree in Computer Science and Software Engineering from the Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology in Navi Mumbai, affiliated to Mumbai University, and was a software engineer for the company, Leading Edge.

[9] After working for Leading Edge Systems (now Trigyn Technologies Limited), Mahadevan ventured into music.