Grace Martine Tandon (born October 24, 1998), better known by her
stage name Daya (stylized DΛYΛ; pronounced ), is an American singer and songwriter from
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
She is signed to Sandlot Records and
AWAL
AWAL (an initialism of Artists Without a Label) is a British music distribution company owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The company serves as an alternative to the traditional music label deal, offering deal structures to artists and independ ...
, and released her self-titled debut
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. (EP), ''
Daya'', on September 4, 2015, which includes the song "
Hide Away", which has peaked at number 23 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
She released her debut studio album ''
Sit Still, Look Pretty'' on October 7, 2016.
Early life
Daya was born in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
and grew up in the suburb of
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Her paternal grandfather is
Indian American, a
Punjabi who migrated from
Punjab,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. She has four siblings, Lou, Mariana, Celia, and Avery. Her stage name Daya () is the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
word for "compassion" or "kindness". In grade school she attended St. Bernard School and later she attended
Mt. Lebanon High School,
where she graduated.
At the age of three, Daya began to learn the piano, and started jazz piano at the age of eleven. By this time, she had also learned to play the guitar, ukulele, saxophone, and flute.
Daya also spent a summer studying songwriting at
Interlochen Arts Camp
Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City.
...
.
At eleven, Daya enrolled as a student at the Accelerando Music Conservatory, owned by Christina Chirumbolo, in Pittsburgh. There, she met songwriter and producer Gino Barletta,
a colleague of Chirumbolo who visited the school as a lecturer. Chirumbolo and Barletta founded ''INSIDE ACCESS'', a music camp, the two worked with Daya eventually inviting her to Los Angeles in February 2015 to work on her original material.
Music career
Daya's professional career began when her parents accompanied her to Los Angeles to work with Christina Chirumbolo and Gino Barletta, founders of INSIDE ACCESS by Accelerando,
Brett McLaughlin, Britten Newbill and Noisecastle III at
Paramount Recording Studios. It was during one of these writing sessions that her debut single "Hide Away" was written and recorded, and Barletta consequently introduced Daya to Steve Zap of Z Entertainment. Daya, who was a junior in school at the time, said she didn't think anything would happen for a while, and went back to high school the next day.
A radio promotions veteran, Zap liked the song and was interested in helping to promote the singer, leading to forming an independent label with Barletta called Artbeatz.
Daya released her song "Hide Away" on April 22, 2015.
The song was well-received online, enjoyed support from a number of notable bloggers including
Tyler Oakley
Mathew Tyler Oakley (born March 22, 1989) is an American YouTuber, actor, activist and author. Much of Oakley's activism has been dedicated to LGBT youth, LGBT rights, as well as social issues including health care, education, and the preventio ...
and
Perez Hilton
Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid ph ...
, the latter commenting "There is something very special about Daya's voice". Jason Lipshutz of ''
Billboard'' also featured the single on their official website, labelling it "a gorgeous debut".
Daya made her television debut performing "Hide Away" on ''
Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda
''Today with Hoda & Jenna '' (also known as the fourth hour of ''Today'' or simply ''Hoda & Jenna'') is an American daytime television talk show on NBC, hosted by Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager. The program airs as the fourth hour of NBC's '' ...
'' on August 21, 2015, as
Elvis Duran's
Artist of the Month. She returned to ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...
'' for their summer concert series on June 28, 2016.
Following a successful debut, Daya released her self-titled EP, ''
Daya'', which features six songs, including "Hide Away", on September 4, 2015.
The EP was premiered in full a day early by ''Billboard'', and debuted at number 161 on the
''Billboard'' 200, propelling "Hide Away" to number 40 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Songs chart.
On October 30, 2015, Daya released the physical version of her debut EP through
Target.
In 2016, Daya was the opening act for American
pop-rap
Pop rap (also known as pop hip-hop, hip pop, melodic hip-hop or melodic rap) is a genre of music fusing the rhythm-based lyricism of hip hop music with pop music's preference for melodious vocals and catchy tunes. This genre gained mainstrea ...
duo
Jack & Jack
Jack & Jack are an American pop-rap duo from Omaha, Nebraska, consisting of Jack Johnson and Jack Gilinsky, based in Los Angeles, California. After success via the social media app Vine, the duo turned to careers as musicians. Their 2014 single " ...
's US tour. In February 2016, she was featured on
The Chainsmokers' song "
Don't Let Me Down", which eventually peaked at number 3 on the Hot 100, becoming her second top 40 entry and her first top 10. This was the only song by Daya that reached the Billboard Hot 100 Decade-End Chart. She also released the second single from her self-titled EP, "
Sit Still, Look Pretty", which debuted at number 100 and peaked at number 28, her third top 40.
Daya was invited to perform at the 2016
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
Easter Egg Roll, where she and her family met President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
and the First Lady
Michelle Obama.
On November 15, 2016, Daya released her song "
Words
A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...
" as her third single from her debut album ''
Sit Still, Look Pretty''.
On December 6, 2016, it was announced that "
Don't Let Me Down" had been nominated for the
59th Annual Grammy Awards. On February 12, 2017, it won the
Grammy Award for
Best Dance Recording
The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...
making it the singer's first Grammy Award.
[
In March 2017, she worked for ]Gryffin
Dan Griffith (born September 29, 1987), known by his stage name Gryffin (often stylized in all caps), is an American musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer. He gained recognition for remixing some well-known songs such as Tove Lo's " Ta ...
's song " Feel Good" along with Illenium
Nicholas Daniel Miller (born December 26, 1990), professionally known as Illenium, is an American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has released four studio albums, his most recent being '' Fallen Embers'', released in July 2021. It earne ...
. On October 11, 2017, she released a new single, "New", through Interscope Records.
In March 2018, Daya was featured on RL Grime
Henry Alfred Steinway (born February 8, 1991), better known by his stage name RL Grime, (previously known as Clockwork) is an American record producer and DJ. RL Grime specializes in trap and bass music and is a member of the Los Angeles electr ...
's song " I Wanna Know" which was released on March 16, 2018.
On June 22, 2018, Daya released her single "Safe". On July 18, 2018, she released the video for the single.
Daya released five singles in 2019. Two of the singles, "Insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
" and "Left Me Yet", were originally intended to be on her second studio album. "Forward Motion" was intended for the movie '' Late Night''. "Keeping It in the Dark" is on the soundtrack of the Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
series ''13 Reasons Why
''13 Reasons Why'' is an American teen drama television series developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey and based on the 2007 novel ''Thirteen Reasons Why'' by author Jay Asher. The series revolves around high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan M ...
''. " Wanted" is a collaboration with Swedish music production duo NOTD
NOTD (pronounced "noted") is a Swedish musical production duo composed of Tobias Danielsson and Samuel Brandt. They are best known for their songs " I Wanna Know" featuring Bea Miller and " So Close" with Felix Jaehn featuring Captain Cuts and ...
.
On October 9, 2020, she released "First Time", which was rumored to be related to a new album. It ended up being on her EP ''The Difference'', released on May 14, 2021, together with "Montana", which she released a little earlier, on April 30 and "Bad Girl", which already charted on the Mainstream Top 40. She released her next EP ''In Between Dreams'' on September 16, 2022.
Discography
Studio albums
* '' Sit Still, Look Pretty'' (2016)
EPs
* '' Daya'' (2015)
* ''The Difference'' (2021)
* ''In Between Dreams'' (2022)
Personal life
Daya came out publicly as bisexual in October 2018 for National Coming Out Day. On April 2, 2021, Daya went public on Instagram with her girlfriend of three years, Clyde Munroe, after releasing the single "Bad Girl" about her.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daya (singer)
1998 births
Living people
American people of Indian descent
American people of Punjabi descent
American people of German descent
American people of English descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of British descent
American Hindus
Singers from Pennsylvania
Musicians from Pittsburgh
American child singers
American women pop singers
American women singers of Indian descent
American indie pop musicians
American dance musicians
American multi-instrumentalists
American women songwriters
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
Child pop musicians
Songwriters from Pennsylvania
Grammy Award winners for dance and electronic music
People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Bisexual women
Bisexual musicians
LGBT people from Pennsylvania
LGBT singers from the United States
American women in electronic music
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century LGBT people