Mt. Lebanon resident wins Grammy
To her Mt. Lebanon friends, she’s Grace Tandon.
To the world at large, she’s Grammy Award winner Daya.
At the 59th annual ceremony Feb. 12 honoring musical acts, the song “Don’t Let Me Down” – no, it’s not a Beatles cover – by the Chainsmokers featuring Daya won for best dance recording. The song was written by Andrew Taggart, Emily Warren and Scott Harris. Taggart is half of the Chainsmokers, along with Alex Pall.
Tandon, 18, came to prominence in 2015 with her original composition “Hide Away,” which peaked at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song appears on her 2016 debut album, “Sit Still, Look Pretty.”
“Don’t Let Me Down,” released in February 2016, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard list. The accompanying video, released in April, has been viewed more than 600 million times on YouTube.
Starting with piano lessons at age 3, Tandon eventually learned to play guitar, ukulele, flute and saxophone. She trained vocally under the guidance of Christina Chirumbolo, who operated a musical conservancy and performing arts school in Canonsburg.
”It wasn’t until I started voice lessons that I began writing my own songs,” Tandon, a former Mt. Lebanon High School cross country runner, told The Almanac’s Eleanor Bailey in 2015. “Until then, I was more interested in music than lyrics. I guess, at that age, I didn’t have too much to say about the world. And when I worked with Christina, I began to develop my own sound.”
As Daya, she is scheduled to perform at 7 p.m. March 30 at Stage AE on the North Shore.