Biography
Who is Andra Day?
Early life and education
Andra Day was born Cassandra Monique Batie on December 30, 1984, in Edmonds, Washington. She relocated to Southern California when she was three years old and spent her youth in Southeast San Diego. She sang at the First United Methodist Church in Chula Vista as a young child. At age five, she began taking dance lessons and continued this training into her twenties. She attended Valencia Park Elementary School, which she credits for sparking her interest in the performing arts. By age twelve, she was listening to jazz vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and Billie Holiday, who shaped her early musical style.
She attended the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts in Paradise Hills and graduated in 2003. After completing high school, she held various jobs, including working as a children's entertainer. In July 2019, she was inducted as an honorary member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, an organization for Black women based in American colleges.
Musical career beginnings
In 2010, Kai Millard, who was married to Stevie Wonder at the time, saw Andra performing at a strip mall. She brought the singer to the attention of her husband, who later contacted her. Although they did not start working together immediately, they reconnected about a year later. Wonder introduced her to producer Adrian Gurvitz, who later worked on her debut album. In 2011, she signed a development deal with Buskin Records. By 2013, she had asked Jeffrey Evans to act as her manager.
She secured a record deal with Warner Bros. Records after finding success with unplugged covers on her YouTube channel. These videos, often filmed in her sister's bedroom, included songs by artists like Eminem, Muse, and Jessie J. She also created mashups, such as combining The Notorious B.I.G. With Marvin Gaye. During this period, she collaborated with Gurvitz on dozens of original songs and worked with producers like Questlove and Raphael Saadiq.
Rise to fame and acting
Her debut studio album, Cheers to the Fall, came out on August 28, 2015. The record reached number 48 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her single, Rise Up, gained significant exposure when it appeared in a Beats by Dre commercial featuring tennis player Serena Williams. She performed at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where director Spike Lee noticed her and volunteered to direct the music video for her single, Forever Mine. She also toured with Lenny Kravitz in 2015 and performed at events like the 2015 BET Awards.
In 2021, she made her acting debut playing the title role in the biographical drama The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama and an Academy Award nomination. She also composed and performed the film's soundtrack, which won a Grammy Award. Her other acting credits include the film The Deliverance and the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, where she portrayed the goddess Athena. In 2024, she performed at the pregame show for Super Bowl LVIII.
Birthday and age
Andra Day was born on December 30, 1984, which makes Andra 41 years old today. That birthday falls under the Capricorn sign. Andra shares the date with 22 other famous people.
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