Kerala music has a complex history distinct from Malayalam poetry, with which it is often associated. Though it is often driven by poetry, Kerala also has its roots in Carnatic music. Songs have always been a significant part of early Malayalam literature dating back to the 9th century CE. The significance of music in Kerala's culture can be deduced from the musical poetry that developed in the Malayalam language long before prose. As music evolved in the region, various branches emerged from it
Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over 47 years she has recorded over 25,000 Songs in various Indian languages, as well as foreign languages such as Malay, Latin, Arabic, Sinhalese, English and French.
Malabar Gopalan Nair Sreekumar, better known as M. G. Sreekumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, music producer, television presenter and film producer, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He has sung more than 25000 songs in various Indian languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Sanskrit. He owns a music company named KMG Musics and the Saregama School of Music in Thiruvananthapuram. Sreekumar has won several awards, including two National Film Awards, three Kerala State Film Awards and 5 Filmfare Awards South. He was also honoured with the Harivarasanam Award by the Government of Kerala in 2016. His career as a singer spans over 44 years.
Gayatri Asokan is a playback singer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. She started her playback career with the song "Deena Dayalo Rama" for the film Arayannagalude Veedu for music director Raveendran. "Enthe Nee Kanna" for Sasneham Sumitra won her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer in 2003. Her other songs include "Chanjadi Adi" from Makalkku, "Thumbikkinnaram" from Naran and "Pularumo" from Ritu.
Vidhu Prathap is an Indian playback singer. He has sung many songs in over 600 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages.
Jyotsna Radhakrishnan is an Indian playback singer. She predominantly works in 12 languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. She has sung more than 1000 songs. She is based in Thrissur, Kerala. Jyotsna gained wider recognition for singing popular songs such as “Karuppinazhaku” from Swapnakoodu (2003), “Themma Themma Themmadikkatte” from Rain Rain Come Again (2004) and "Raftara" from Lucifer (2019).
Madhusoodanan Jayachandran Nair is an Indian composer, singer, and musician. He has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director a record number of nine times. In 2005, he also won the state award for best male singer. In 2015, he won the National Film Award for Best Music Direction for the film Ennu Ninte Moideen. He has composed music for 126 films.
Manjari is an Indian playback singer and Hindustani vocalist. Her first stage performance was with Shiva, the Kolkata - based rock band, when she was in class eight.
Sujith Vasudevan I, professionally credited as Sharreth, is an Indian music director and singer. He predominantly composes film scores and songs for Malayalam films, but has gone on to compose for Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films too.
Banaras is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language masala film directed by Nemom Pushparaj, starring Vineeth and Kavya Madhavan in lead roles with Navya Nair playing supporting role. Set against the city of Banaras, it tells the story of a young man named Hari, who travels from Kerala to do research on folk arts at Banaras Hindu University and meets Amrita, a student at the university.
Biju Narayanan is an Indian playback singer active mainly in Malayalam films.
Sithara Krishnakumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, lyricist, classical dancer and an occasional actor. She predominantly works in Malayalam cinema in addition to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. Sithara is a well known singer who is trained in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions and is also a recognised ghazal singer. She is the recipient of several awards which includes three Kerala State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer.
Mridula Varier is a South Indian playback singer from Koyilandy, Kerala. She started her career as a playback singer in the Malayalam movie Big B in 2007. She has also recorded songs for Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. She has won the prestigious Kerala State Award in 2023 and Special Jury Award in 2014.
Sreya Jayadeep is an Indian singer. She has sung on music albums and films in South Indian languages. She has appeared on reality shows.
Delsy Ninan is an Indian playback singer from Kerala. She is also a VJ and has presented shows in Malayalam channels.
N J Nandini is a Carnatic music vocalist from Trivandrum. Nandini was awarded the Chembai Puraskaram, the Isai Chudar title and a M S Subbalakshmi fellowship at the young age of 23. Nandini, who comes from a family that has a musical lineage, has been nurtured by gurus such as Prof Parassala Ponnammal, Prof P R Kumarakerala Varma, Dr S Bhagyalakshmi and Dr M N Moorthy.
Ratheesh Kumar is an Indian playback singer from Kerala. He started his career as a playback singer in the Malayalam movie Ivar Vivahitharayal in 2009. He has also recorded songs for Malayalam Albums and Dramas. He was the finalist of the reality show Amrita TV Super Star Global, a musical talent hunt show hosted by Amrita TV.
Krishna Praba is an Indian actress and professional dancer who chiefly appears in Malayalam films. She made her entry into the film industry with the film Madampi (2008), directed by B. Unnikrishnan. She played the character Mollykutty in Life of Josutty (2015), directed by Jeethu Joseph.
Anne Amie is an Indian playback singer and voice artist. She marked her debut in playback singing with the solo 'Ethu Meghamaari – Reprise' for the film Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho. She received her first Filmfare Award in 2019 for the song 'Aararo' from the movie Koode. She also won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer in 2023 for the song 'Thinkal Poovin' from Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum.
Swetha Ashok is an Indian playback singer, who is well known for her work in the Malayalam film industry. She rose to fame as a child when she won the reality show Munch Star Singer (2008). She was one of the finalists on the reality show SaReGaMaPa Keralam, the Malayalam regional version of the flagship show of Zee Entertainment Enterprises. During the course of the show, Swetha launched her playback singing career by singing songs for prominent films like Mammooty's Shylock, Happy Sardar, and Dhamaka by music director Gopi Sundar.
