Sadasiva Rao was born in southern Andra Pradesh to a Marathi Smartha Brahmin family. He had his musical training under Venkataramana Bhagavatar, a pupil of Tyagaraja. He was brought to the Mysore court by his patrons and introduced to the Mysore king Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. The king, impressed by Sadasiva's singing, made his a court musician.
Sadasiva Rao has composed mostly in Telugu. He went on a pilgrimage of south India and composed krithis at all the temples he visited. Some of his compositions are, Devadideva (Mayamalavagaula), Gangadhara Tripuraharana (Purvikalyani) and Paramabhuta Maina (Khamas). Sadasiva Rao used the mudra 'Sadasiva'.