Anna Dasha Novotny (born February 27, 2000) is an American country and pop singer-songwriter. She has released one EP, ''21st Birthday'' (2021), and two studio albums: ''Dirty Blonde'' (2023) and ''What Happens Now?'' (2024). Her song "

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

" peaked at No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in June 2024.

Biography

Early life and education

Dasha was born and raised in

San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

, and is of Czech descent. When she was 5 years old, she started participating in musical theater productions. She danced ballet and hip hop. She won national poetry competitions in school and then learned to play the guitar and piano at age 8. Her dad was her first

talent manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

and booked gigs for her in coffee shops and wineries at age 10. Her brother, who is a guitarist for

Beauty School Dropout "Beauty School Dropout" is a song from the musical '' Grease''. It was written by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, and was performed by Frankie Avalon for the film version and soundtrack album Overview In the musical, the song is the showcase piece of ...

, helped produce her music. She released her first song when she was 13 years old after her father gave her a small recording budget. She attended

San Luis Obispo High School San Luis Obispo High School, also referred to as "San Luis High" and "SLO High", is an American public high school in San Luis Obispo, California. It is the only non- continuation public high school within the city. The school is within the San ...

, where she performed in ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'' (2016), ''

Footloose Footloose may refer to: * ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film ** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack) ** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins * ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film ** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...

'' (2017), ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'' (2018), and '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (2018) and was also a member of the Improv Team. She then attended Belmont University until the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, when she

dropped out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most ind ...

to pursue her music career.

Career

Dasha released the single "Don't Mean a Thing" through Famouz Records in April 2020. Later that year, she signed with Quadio Records, a subsidiary of Disruptor Records. "Don't Mean a Thing" and the follow up singles "None of My Business", "$hiny Things", and "21st Birthday" appeared on the 2021

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

''$hiny Things'' released through Quadio Records. In 2021 and 2022, Dasha released singles for her debut album ''Dirty Blonde'' (2023). In November 2023, Dasha released the single "

", a foray into

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

which marked her first entry on the ''

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

'' and peaked at number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in June 2024. The song was also successful worldwide, peaking within the top ten of the charts in Belgium (Flanders), Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom. That month, she signed with

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. Her second full-length album, ''What Happens Now?'' was released in February 2024. In April 2024, she performed "Austin" live at the 2024 CMT Awards in Austin, Texas. In August 2024 she performed “Austin” live at Allsång på Skansen in Sweden.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Notes

References

{{reflist 2000 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters Living people American people of Czech descent People from San Luis Obispo, California Warner Records artists