Pop artist Daya to perform at Dillo Day

Source: Paradigm Talent Agency

20-year-old pop artist Daya. The Grammy-winning singer will be performing on the main stage at Dillo Day.

Gabby Birenbaum, Campus Editor

Grammy-winning pop artist Daya will be performing at Dillo Day, Mayfest announced Monday.

A native of Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Daya is the first pop artist to be announced for this year’s festival. Despite being younger than many Northwestern students at age 20, Daya already has had three top 40 hits in “Billboard’s Hot 100” — 2015’s “Hide Away”, 2016’s “Sit Still Look Pretty” and 2016’s “Don’t Let Me Down”, a collaboration with The Chainsmokers that earned the artist her first top-10 hit when the song peaked at No. 3. “Don’t Let Me Down” won a Grammy in 2017 for “Best Dance Recording.”

Born Grace Tandon, the artist chose the moniker of Daya as a reference to her Indian heritage — her first name translates to Daya in Hindi.

Mayfest concerts committee member Jess Viti, a Medill sophomore, said Daya’s “star is still rising,” in a Mayfest release. After coming out as bisexual in 2018, Viti said Daya has entered a new stage of development as an artist.

“Now that she has more control over her music, she finds inspiration from her new relationship and the world around her,” Viti said in the release. “Her music style has shifted from purely pop to include more synth and electronic influences.”

Since her debut album “Sit Still, Look Pretty” in 2016, Daya has been relatively quiet, but the young artist has “slowly been releasing new music” since 2018, Viti said. Viti was a fan of Daya’s most recent release, “Insomnia” — her first of 2019.

Daya will be joining nighttime headliner and rapper A$AP Ferg and EDM artist Anna Lunoe on the Dillo main stage June 1. Viti said Daya would fill a need for pop music at Dillo.

“The Lakefill has been lacking true representation in the pop genre,” Viti said. “We felt Daya would be the perfect artist to fill this void.”

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