Krishnamurthy was born in 1927 at Kothapalli, Pithapuram Taluka, Godavari dt in what was then British India to Rama Murthy Panthulu and Vijayalakshmi.
His father held a minor job at the estate of the Raja of Pithapuram.[1] He was under influence of his mother who sang Ashtapadis, Tarangas and the Adhyatma Ramayana kritis. She had a great influence on him while growing up.
Krishnamurthy joined the Maharaja's Music College at Vizianagaram in the year 1940 and received initial training in Violin and Vocal from the Dwaram Narasinga Rao Naidu. In 1949, he was influenced by carnatic vocalist, Sripada Pinakapani, and under his guidance developed his style of music.
Krishnamurthy worked as Principal of S.V.College of Music and Dance, Tirupati; M.R.Government College of Music and Dance, Vizianagaram; Government College of Music and Dance, Secunderabad; and retired as Principal of G.V.R Government College of Music and Dance, Vijayawada in 1985.
He was Dean of Faculty of the Fine Arts and Chairman of Board of Studies in Music of Sri Venkateswara University and Nagarjuna University. He contributed to Annamacharya Project of the TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) in tuning most of the "Annamacharya" kritis as we know them today.
Krishna Gana Sabha, Madras, conferred on "Nedunuri" the title Sangeetha Choodamani in 1976. The Music Academy, Madras conferred on him the most prestigious title of Sangeeta Kalanidhi in 1991.
He was named Asthana Vidwan of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and also of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.
Nedunuri Krishnamurthy died on 8 December 2014 at Visakhapatnam, aged 87, while undergoing treatment for lung cancer.
