Sivamani, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	Indian Percussionist and Music Director
Famous For	A.R. Rahman's lead percussionist
Physical Stats & More
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black (now bald)
Career
Debut	Acting (Telugu): Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987) as Ronald Album (Solo): Mahaleela (2008) Music Director (Tamil): Arima Nambi (2014) Music Director (Bollywood): Atkan Chatkan (2020)
Instruments	Drums, Octoban, Darbuka, Udukai, Ghatam and Kanjira
Awards, Honours, Achievements	2009: ‘Kalaimamani’ by the Tamil Nadu Government 2015: ‘Best Instrumental Act’ at the prestigious Live Quotients Awards (LQA 2015) 2019: 'Padma Shri' by the Government of India
Personal Life
Date of Birth	1 December 1959
Age (as of 2021)	61 Years
Birthplace	Madras (Now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India
Zodiac sign	Sagittarius
Signature/Autograph
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Family
Wife/Spouse	Runa Rizvi (m. 2014)
Children	Son: Kumaran Sivamani
Parents	Father- S. M. Anandan Mother- Lakshmi Anandan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sivamani

• Sivamani started playing drums at a very young age of seven and later shifted to Mumbai to get more exposure in the industry. He was just 11 years old.

• He happens to be A.R. Rahman‘s lead percussionist and also played percussion on Rehman’s widely recognized artwork – Roja(1992).  His work is also very prominent among the other popular film scores by Rahman including Mustafa..Mustafa (Kadhal Desam 1996), Humma..Humma (Bombay, 1995) and Chaiya..Chiaiya ( Uyire 1998).

• In an article written by The Hindu, Sivamani said he did not go to any music school to learn drums. He always had an ear for beats and does not need any electronic devices to produce or compose any drum beats. He can undoubtedly create music from anything, be it a suitcase to a water can and even kitchen utensils.

• He is a self taught musician and his passion for drums ignited at a very young age. His Father S.M. Anandan was a lead percussionist in K.V. Mahadevan’s group.

• He is not a technical drummer but when he was young he used to volunteer to clean the drum kit of any musician who would come to perform in his hometown. He would fix the mic stands, clean them and would organize the drum kit as per the musician’s need just to feel the instrument.

• He would spent hours of practicing with his friends to perfect his art sitting on the top of a bullock cart on the wall tax basin bridge road in Chennai which enabled him to develop a hand technique that would serve him for years.

• His inspiration varies from artists like Noel Grant, Billy Cobham, Louis Banks to Trilok Gurtu and Prakasam. But, he considers S.P. Balasubrahmanyam his godfather as he says,”He introduced me to the world” and that is why he is able to come so far in his musical voyage.

• Maestro Ilayaraja took in Sivamani as his substitute initially but later he became a permanent member which helped him to form fruitful relationships with other musicians in both tamil and malayalam industry.

• He shared stage with tabla virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain for a concert which was a huge highlight in his musical career.
  

  Sivamani with Ustad Zakir Hussain

• Due to his versatile playing including jazz and carnatic style, Sivamani collaborated with with singer Hariharan for the album Kaash(2000) which was a new experimentation for him in ghazal genre. 

• Sivamani has performed before A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. In an interview with The Hindu, he said,
  

  After the show was over, Kalam sir came on the stage as he wanted to play the drums”

  

  Sivamani with A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

• In 1997, Sivamani went to South Africa to play at the inauguration ceremony of South Africa’s Robben Island prison that was being transformed into a museum where he played before South African President Nelson Mandela.
  

  Sivamani with Nelson Mandela

• He is also associated with Chennai Super Kings and played drums for the team at the Indian Premier League in 2008 and 2010.
  

  Sivamani playing at the Indian Premier Legaue

• Sivamani provides his strong feelings towards the power of music and the importance of practicing to all those who seek advice from him.