Shilpa Rao (शिल्पा राव, born Apeksha Rao; 11 April 1984) is an Indian singer born and raised in Jamshedpur. She completed her Post Graduation in Applied Statistics from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, before working as a jingle singer for three years. During her college days, composer Mithoon offered her to record the song "Tose Naina" from Anwar (2007), making her Bollywood career debut, and the song went on to become one of the most popular songs of 2007.
Rao rose to widespread prominence with the release of "Woh Ajnabi" from The Train (2007) and "Khuda Jaane" from Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), the latter of which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. The following year, she collaborated with Ilaiyaraaja for Paa (2009), where she performed the song "Mudi Mudi Ittefaq Se" which earned her a second Filmfare nomination in the same category. In 2012, Rao teamed up with A. R. Rahman for the song "Ishq Shava" for Yash Chopra's swan song Jab Tak Hai Jaan, followed by Pritam's "Malang" from Dhoom 3 (2013) and Vishal–Shekhar's "Meherbaan" from Bang Bang! (2014). Rao's collaborations with Amit Trivedi were also acclaimed with songs such as "Manmarziyaan" from Lootera (2013) receiving particular praise. She was the final Indian singer to perform in Coke Studio Pakistan with the song "Paar Chanaa De" (2016) and received praise for singing the song "Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo" from the deluxe edition of the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil soundtrack (2016).
Rao is particularly known in the media for trying new styles in her songs and singing for different genres. Rao, who considers her father as her biggest inspiration in the music career, has supported charitable organisations for a number of causes.