Dr. Nithyasree Mahadevan, is an eminent Carnatic musician and playback singer for film songs in many Indian languages. Her paternal grandmother was the legendary Carnatic vocalist D. K. Pattammal, while her maternal grandfather is the legendary mridangam maestro, Palghat Mani Iyer. Her granduncle is the legendary Carnatic vocalist, D. K. Jayaraman.

Nithyasree has performed in all major sabhas in India and has presented concerts in many destinations around the world. She has received multiple awards and honours, and has released more than 100 commercial albums.

An 'A' grade artist with AIR,Nithyasree has been awarded the "Yuva Kala Bharathi" title by Bharath Kalachar in 1994, "Innisai Maamani" by Tamil Nadu Welfare Association, "Kalaimamani" by Hamsadhwani in 2000,"Isai Paeroli" by Kartik Fine Arts in 2001 and various other prestigious awards. She has received "Best Concert Award" from The Music Academy during the music festivals a couple of times and has also performed for the "Sangeeth Natak Academy" twice in their International Music Festivals in Bombay and Hyderabad. She was awarded a doctorate degree from Sathyabama university of Jeppiar in Chennai in late 2007.

Nithyashree's introduction to playback singing came when A.R. Rahman called her to Panchathan Recording Inn, in Chennai, for a voice test sometime in the late '90s. The output from her visit became a huge hit, and was used for the song 'Kannodu Kaanbadellam' in the movie "Jeans" starring Aishwarya Rai. After this, Nithyashree was in demand for playback singing for films and TV serials.Some of her successful movie songs with A.R.Rahman are Minsaara Poove from "Padayappa", Saukiyama Kanne from "Sangamam", Kumbakonam Sandhayile from "New", Manmatha Vasam from "Parthale Paravasam".