Andra Day

 ( Official Website ) 

Day was signed in 2011 to a development deal with Buskin Records founded by Jeffrey Evans, who Day asked to be her manager in 2013. Later Day & Buskin earned a record deal with Warner Bros. Records in part because of the popularity of her numerous unplugged Cover version and mashups on her YouTube channel, most of which were filmed in her sister's bedroom in San Diego. Her covers include Jessie J's "Mamma Knows Best", Eminem's "Lose Yourself", and Muse's "Uprising" among others. She was also known for mashups including one that patched together The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Big Poppa" with Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" and another that combined Amy Winehouse's "He Can Only Hold Her" and Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)".

During that time, Day was also working with Gurvitz on around 40 original songs. Other producers and contributors to what would eventually become her debut studio album included Raphael Saadiq, Questlove, James Poyser, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and The Dap-Kings. Day performed at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and caught the eye of director, Spike Lee. He volunteered to direct the video for her single, "Forever Mine". Day has also performed at the 2015 BET Awards, the closing ceremonies of the 2015 Special Olympics, the Essence Music Festival, and on television shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Good Morning America, and numerous others. She also performed Nina Simone's "Mississippi Goddam" for the soundtrack for the Netflix documentary, What Happened, Miss Simone?. Her first studio album, Cheers to the Fall, was released on August 28, 2015. It was met with critical acclaim with NPR's Katie Presley saying Day's voice has "Eartha Kitt's unflappable confidence, Amy Winehouse's effortless grasp of classic jazz, Billie Holiday's access to raw emotion and Adele's range and pop sensibility". The album was nominated for Best R&B Album and "Rise Up" was nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards in 2016 (an event at which she also performed). The album also peaked at number 48 on the Billboard 200 list. In September 2015, "Rise Up" was used in an advertisement for Beats by Dre that featured tennis player Serena Williams. In November and December 2015, Day appeared alongside Stevie Wonder in an Apple TV commercial in which the two sang Wonder's song "Someday at Christmas".

Her first national tour took place in August and September 2015 when she opened for Lenny Kravitz. In October 2015, she sang "Rise Up" at The White House and again performed the song for A&E's live special, .

In May 2016, Day entered into an agreement with McDonald's and Coca-Cola that saw her image on around 50 million cups at McDonald's. The partnership was part of the "Share a Cup" lyrics program and featured lyrics from Day's "Rise Up". Purchasers of the cups at McDonald's could enter a sweepstakes that would have allowed them to see Day perform at the Essence Music Festival in June 2016. Her Cheers to the Fall Tour began in November 2016 in her hometown of San Diego. Day performed on the second day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to rousing applause. She followed immediately after a moving address by Mothers of the Movement, a group of black mothers who had lost a child through encounters with police and gun violence.

In December 2016, Andra Day received the Powerhouse Award at the Billboard Women in Music event. When asked what makes a 'powerhouse' powerful to others, Day responded, "I think you just remind them of their value, you remind them of their purpose. You remind them that you are not here just to exist, you're here to impact people in their lives...I think it just reinforces that."

In 2017, Day appeared on the song "Stand Up for Something" with rapper Common for the film Marshall. The single was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song; Day and Common performed the song at the 90th Academy Awards in March 2018. Day performed with the Baltimore Children's Choir for the opening musical performance at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018. "Andra Day and Baltimore Children's Choir open up for March for Our Lives Rally" . YouTube, (March 24, 2018).C-SPAN.org. "March for Our Lives Rally" . (March 24, 2018).

In 2024, Andra Day performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” on the pregame show of Super Bowl LVIII. This performance was produced and arranged by Adam Blackstone.

In 2021, Day was involved as writer and song performer on American educational television series We the People, winning the Children's and Family Emmy Awards for Outstanding Short Form Program. In 2022, it was announced that Day will be starring in the Lee Daniels horror/thriller The Deliverance with Mo'Nique, Omar Epps, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Glenn Close. In 2024, Day was announced to be portraying the Greek goddess Athena for the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

• Cheers to the Fall (2015)
• The United States vs. Billie Holiday (soundtrack) (2021)
• CASSANDRA (cherith) (2024)