Andra Day

Bio:
Andra Day (born Cassandra Monique Batie on December 30, 1984 in Spokane, Washington) is an American soul, R&B and pop singer. Andra developed an interest in singing by performing with her church’s choir. She enrolled at the School of Creative and Performing Arts in Sand Diego, California, majoring in Vocal Performance. During the time in the school, she really got into jazz and singers like Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. Andra had her big break when Kai Millard Morris, the wife of Stevie Wonder, caught one of Andra’s performances. After Kai took some of Andra’s music to Stevie, he connected her with some music industry professionals. After developing a YouTube following, Andra signed with Warner Brothers. Her debut album, Cheers to the Fall, was released on Aug. 28. 2015, after Rolling Stone named her as “10 New Artists You Need to Know” in Jul. 2015. The video for her single, “Forever Mine,” was directed by Spike Lee. Andra performed at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games Closing Ceremony, alongside Carly Rae Jepsen. She opened for Lenny Kravitz on some dates of his 2015 tour. In Dec. 2015, Andra received two nominations for the 58th Grammy Awards – Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Album. Most recently, she sang the Oscar-nominated song “Stand Up For Something” along with Common for the movie Marshall.

Best Known For:
Andra Day is best known as an R&B singer.

Personal Life:
Andra Day also cites Janis Joplin and Lauryn Hill as influences. In addition to singing, Andra trained in ballet, tap and jazz dancing. She is also a passionate advocate for women’s rights and has worked with Unlikely Heroes, an organization aimed at ending the practice of human trafficking.