Biography

Grammy-winning American singer/songwriter Daya shades her catchy pop gems with lush electronic elements. Evolving over the years as she slowly gained control of her image and music, she first climbed the charts as a 16-year-old high school junior, when her sound resembled a combination of Lorde and Alessia Cara. That youthful energy made its way onto her breakthrough debut, 2016's Sit Still, Look Pretty, which spawned the multi-platinum track "Hide Away." She won a Grammy with the Chainsmokers (2016's "Don't Let Me Down") and adopted a more electronic-leaning style that resulted in 2021's course-shifting EP The Difference, home to the hit "Bad Girl." More electronic-infused tracks arrived in the early 2020s -- 2021's "What If I Told You," 2022's "Love You When You're Gone," and 2023's "Juliene" -- at which time she became a fully independent artist. Born Grace Martine Tandon -- "daya" is the Hindi word for "grace" in a nod to her Indian grandfather -- and raised in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon, she began taking piano lessons at the age of three, and moved on to voice lessons at the age of ten. Songwriting came later, and in 2014 she signed with the Z-Entertainment label based on her demos. A year later, her single "Hide Away" took off thanks to early online support, becoming a hit across the globe and receiving multi-platinum certification. In 2015, Daya issued her debut self-titled EP on Artbeatz. Both "Hide Away" and the follow-up, double-platinum single "Sit Still, Look Pretty" rose to the Top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, with a number 14 debut on the Heatseekers chart. She later contributed vocals to the Chainsmokers' enduring 2016 smash "Don't Let Me Down" (which went on to win the Grammy for Best Dance Recording). Daya's debut, Sit Still, Look Pretty, was released later that year. The album peaked in the Top 40 in the U.S. and Canada, and was eventually certified gold in the U.S. and silver in the U.K. In 2017, she appeared on the Gryffin and Illenium track "Feel Good," later releasing her own singles "Safe" and "New," the latter of which became a modest hit in the U.S. and Australia. This marked the start of a multi-year period of standalone single, collaboration, and EP releases. Of the dozen or so fresh tracks that she would release at the turn of the decade, 2019's electronic-dance bop "Insomnia," "Wanted" with NOTD, and "Keeping It in the Dark" from the 13 Reasons Why soundtrack made dents on international charts and streaming services. In 2021, she issued her second EP, The Difference, which included the electro-pop banger "First Time" and the Charlie Puth-assisted hit "Bad Girl." Also that year, she delivered the non-album single, "What If I Told You," and "Evil" from the Blade Runner: Black Lotus anime soundtrack. Another single, the sultry and dance-oriented "Love You When You're Gone," arrived in June 2022 as the first track off her third EP, In Between Dreams. In 2023, Daya revealed that she had become a fully independent artist, gaining control over her sound and image. That year, she began a steady rollout of singles, dropping one every few weeks, starting with June's trip-hop-leaning "Juliene." ~ Neil Z. Yeung