MLR Karthikeyan (30 November 1982 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) is an Indian playback singer. He has lent his voice in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada films. 　　Karthikeyan studied at Sir M. Venkatasubba Rao school in Theagaraya Nagar, Chennai. During his schooling he was inspired by Devi Sri Prasad to sing in inter-school cultural competitions. He was later the main singer in the school band which took part in many competitions. He started professionally as a stage singer at the age of 14. 　　Karthikeyan earned his BSc degree in Mathematics and Masters of Computer Application from the University of Madras.