Grace Martine Tandon (born October 24, 1998), known professionally as Daya (stylized DΛYΛ; pronounced ), is an American singer and songwriter from the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. She released her self-titled debut extended play (EP), Daya, on September 4, 2015. The album includes the song "Hide Away," which peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. She released her debut studio album Sit Still, Look Pretty on October 7, 2016. She is currently signed to ONErpm. The Chainsmokers' "Don't Let Me Down", for which she provided vocals, was a worldwide top-ten song and became one of the best-selling singles of all time.
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Early life
Grace Martine Tandon was born on October 24, 1998, in Pittsburgh, and grew up in the suburb of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Her paternal grandfather was a Punjabi Indian immigrant from Delhi, India. She has four siblings, Lou, Mariana, Celia, and Avery. Her stage name Daya ([dɐˈjaː] ) is the Sanskrit word for "compassion" or "kindness". She attended grade school at St. Bernard School and later graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School. At the age of three, Daya began to learn the piano, and started jazz piano at the age of 11. 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.
At 11, 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 where the two worked with Daya and eventually invited her to Los Angeles in February 2015 to work on 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 high school at the time, said she didn't think anything would happen for a while, and went back to 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 and Perez Hilton, the latter commenting "There is something very special about Daya's voice". Jason Lipshutz of Billboard also featured the single on their official website, labeling it "a gorgeous debut".
Daya made her television debut performing "Hide Away" on Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda on August 21, 2015, as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month. She returned to Today 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 duo Jack & Jack'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.
Discography
Studio albums
Sit Still, Look Pretty (2016)
Til Every Petal Drops (2025)
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 a single about her titled "Bad Girl."