Kavita Krishnamurthy was born in the capital of India, New Delhi. Her father was an official working with the Education Ministry. She began her music training with her aunt, Mrs. Bhattacharya who taught her Rabindra Sangeet. As she completed her training, she began her formal training in Hindustani classical music under the aegis of Sri. Balram Puri. At the age of eight, she won her first gold medal at a music competition. Subsequently, she won gold medals as she participated in the Inter-Ministry Classical Competition in New Delhi in the mid 1960s.

At the young age of nine, she got an opportunity to record a Tagore song in Bengali with the legendary Lata Mangeshkar under the auspices of the music composer Hemant Kumar. Although the young Kavita was aspiring to be working with the Indian Foreign Services, Kavita moved to Bombay when she was 14 to try her luck as a playback singer in the Hindi film industry. After she completed her school education, she is an alumnus of the St. Xaviers' College, Bombay from where she acquired her Ph.D. in Economics. She was also very active in the St. Xaviers' Music Group in her college days. During the annual college festival (Malhar), she bumped into Ranu Mukherjee, the daughter of Hemant Kumar. Ranu took the initiative of reintroducing Kavita to her father. He was highly impressed by her skills, so he began her talent as a singer during his live performances. In one such performance, Manna Dey spotted her talent and employed her to sing advertisement jingles. Through her aunt's strong contacts, she met Mrs. Jaya Chakravarthy, the mother of actress Hema Malini who later took the initiative of introducing to Kavita to the music director Laxmikant (of the Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame) in late. 1976.

Laxmikant gave her an option to work as a dubbing artiste or a career in playback singing later. Kavita chose the former and impressed Laxmikant with her strong grounding in Indian classical music and her soulful timbre. Initially, she used to record songs and cut demos of songs intended for singers like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. In her struggle phase, Laxmikant-Pyarelal backed her so strongly that she was labelled as a "LP-campwalli" which gave many music directors an excuse to avoid working with her. She sang the song "Kaahe Ko Byaahi" in the film Maang Bharo Sajna in 1980 which featured in her own voice. Unfortunately, the song was dropped from the final cut.

In 1985, her career took off with her first major hit, "Tumse Milkar Na Jaane Kyon". Post the success of the song, it opened up various opportunities beyond the Laxmikant-Pyarelal camp. "Hawa Hawaii" and "Karte Hain Hum Pyaar Mr. India Se", two popular songs from the highly popular movie Mr. India (1987) proved a turning point for her. (The song was composed by music directors Laxmikant-Pyarelal and lip-synced on screen by actress Sridevi). The collaboration of Kavita and Laxmikant-Pyarelal produced many hits. Later, as she established herself and received patronage of composers such as R. D. Burman and Ismail Darbar. In 1994, Kavita's performance in the songs from music director R.D. Burman's last successful venture, 1942: A Love Story won her a lot of popular acclaim.

Personal life

Kavitha Krishnamurthy married Dr. L. Subramaniam in Bangalore on November 11 1999. Dr. L. Subramaniam is himself a world class violin player in the Carnatic tradition and a brother of L. Shankar, who has played with a lot of famous stars, including Peter Gabriel and Shakti, the ground breaking group with guitar ace John McLaughlin. The surprise wedding took place in Bangalore in the presence of just 25 relatives. The world came to know it only on November 15 1999. Dr. L. Subramaniam has three children from his earlier marriage and she accepted them as her own children. Their daughter Seetha is a law graduate and is currently working on an English album. Narayanan, the middle one is a qualified doctor and loves music while Ambi, the youngest is a violinist. She says that they chose to live in Bangalore as her husband likes the city a lot and decided to make it his base. She would ideally prefer to work out of Bangalore but feels the need to be with her family.

Awards

Filmfare Awards

• 1994 Pyaar Hua Chupke Se-1942: A Love Story
• 1995 Mera Piya Ghar Aaya--Yaarana
• 1996 Aaj Main Upar--Khamoshi: The Musical
• 2002 Dola Re Dola- Devdas (shared with Shreya Ghoshal)

Other Awards

• Yesudas Award for outstanding contribution to Indian film industry(2008)
• Padmashri Award by Indian Government for outstanding contribution to Indian film music (2005)
• Star Screen Award for Best Female Playback singer for Aaj Main Upar from Khamoshi: The Musical (1997)
• Star Screen Award for Best Female Playback singer for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam: title song (2000)
• Zee Cine Award for Best Female Playback Singer for Nimbooda from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (2000)
• Zee Cine Award for Best Female Playback Singer for Dola Re Dola from Devdas (shared with Shreya Ghoshal) (2003)
• IIFA Best Female Playback Singer for Dola Re Dola from Devdas (shared with Shreya Ghoshal) (2003)
• Priyadarshini Award
• Lion's Club Awards
• 2000 - Bollywood Award, held in New York
• 2002 - Bollywood Award, held in New York
• 2002 - Kishore Kumar Journalists'/Critics' Award in Calcutta

Famous Songs

Song	Film	Other singer
Maayeraa	Sainikudu
Hawa Hawaii	Mr. India	Solo
Log Jahan Par Rehte Hain	Pyar Ka Mandir	Mohammad Aziz, Suresh Wadkar, Udit Narayan
Ilu Ilu	Saudagar	Manhar Udhas, Udit Narayan
Saudagar Sauda Kar	Saudagar	Manhar Udhas, Sukhwinder Singh
Pyar Hua Chupke Se	1942 A Love Story	Solo
Rim Jhim Rim Jhim	1942 A Love Story	Kumar Sanu
Kaatrae En Vaasal	Rhythm	Unnikrishnan
Tu cheez badi hai mast mast	Mohra	Udit Narayan
Tu Hi Re	Bombay	Hariharan
Kucchi Kuchi Rakkamma	Bombay	Udit Narayan, G.V.Prakash, Shardha
Mera Piya Ghar Aaya	Yaarana	Solo
O Yaara Dil Lagana	Agni Sakshi	Solo
O Piya Piya	Agni Sakshi	Babul Supriyo
Aaj Main Upar	Khamoshi: The Musical	Kumar Sanu
Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai	Khamoshi: The Musical	Solo
Dola Re Dola	Devdas	Shreya Ghoshal
Kaahe Chhed Mohe	Devdas	Madhuri Dixit, Pandit Birju Maharaj
Hamesha Tumko Chaaha	Devdas	Udit Narayan
Kya Janoo Saajan	Dil Vil Pyar Vyar	Solo
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Mohd. Vakil, Dominique, Salamat
Nimbooda Nimbooda	Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Solo
Koi Mil Gaya	Kuch Kuch Hota Hai	Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik
Saajanji Ghar Aaye	Kuch Kuch Hota Hai	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik
Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje	Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Udit Narayan, Vinod Rathod
Bole Choodiyan	Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham	Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam, Amit Kumar
Satrangi Re	Dil Se	Sonu Nigam
Uppu Karuvaadu	Mudhalvan	Shankar Mahadevan (Tamil)
Achacho Punnagai	Shahjahan	Solo (Tamil)
Kaathre En Vasal	Rhythm	P. Unnikrishnan (Tamil)
Dandiya Attam	Kadhalar Dhinam	M.G. Sreekumar P. Unnikrishnan (Tamil)
Woh Ladki Hai Kahan	Dil Chahta Hai	Shaan
Loye Loye	Yaarana	Solo
Kya Kehna	Kya Kehna	Hariharan
Albela Sajan	Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam	Ustad Sultan Khan, Shankar Mahadevan
Main Albeli	Zubeidaa	Sukhwinder Singh
Dheeme Dheeme	Zubeidaa	Solo
Yeh Pyar Kya Hai	Gupt	Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik
Gupt Gupt	Gupt	Hema Sardesai
Tu Mujhe Kabool	Khuda Gawah	Mohammad Aziz
Kya Janoo Saajan	Dil Vil Pyar Vyar	Solo
I Love My India	Pardes	Hariharan, [[Aditya Narayan}}
Que Sera Sera	Pukar	Shankar Mahadevan
Sunta Hai Mera Khuda	Pukar	Udit Narayan, Swarnalatha
Ishq Bina	Taal	Solo
Kuch Na Kaho	Mehbooba	Alka Yagnik
Main Vari Vari	Mangal Pandey: The Rising	Reena Bharadwaj
Eli Re Eli	Yaadein	Alka Yagnik, Hema Sardesai
Mannata	Heroes	Sonu Nigam hoove hoove h2o 2005 film music sadhukokila super hit Source:- Wikipedia