Andra Day

With vocal power and songwriting craft that extend well beyond any narrow revival of classic R&B, Andra Day channels gospel, jazz, and blues influences into music that speaks to the current moment. Issued in 2015, her debut Cheers to the Fall reached the upper reaches of the R&B/hip-hop chart and opened doors to multiple Grammy nominations along with an Academy Award nomination, both of which went to her 2017 contribution “Stand Up for Something” from the Marshall soundtrack. Momentum toward her next full-length release grew through scattered singles that coincided with her Golden Globe-winning turn as Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). Day’s second collection of original songs, CASSANDRA (cherith), arrived in 2024 and traversed traditional and progressive R&B, orchestral pop, and bossa nova.

Cassandra Monique Batie entered the world in Edmonds, Washington, yet spent her formative years in San Diego and surrounding communities, singing regularly in church and attending the School of Creative and Performing Arts. Following graduation she first gravitated toward contemporary R&B and pop, only to rediscover the classic jazz and soul singers who had shaped her childhood listening. A pivotal opportunity arose when Kai Millard Morris heard one of her performances and shared material with her husband Stevie Wonder, who then introduced Day to industry veteran Adrian Gurvitz. Aligned with Gurvitz and Jeffrey Evans’ Buskin imprint, she cultivated an audience on YouTube before securing a contract with Warner Bros.

After releasing early singles and contributing a rendition of “Mississippi Goddamn” to Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone, Day finished her debut album Cheers to the Fall, working closely with Gurvitz, Raphael Saadiq, and additional collaborators. The track “Only Love” alone incorporated bass from Pino Palladino, drums from Questlove, scratches by DJ Jazzy Jeff, and horn support from the Dap-Kings. Released in August 2015, the album peaked at number 48 on the Billboard 200 and number six on the R&B/hip-hop chart. At the subsequent Grammy ceremony it earned a Best R&B Album nomination, while Day received a Best R&B Performance nod for “Rise Up,” a number 31 R&B/hip-hop single that later achieved multi-platinum status. In 2016 she made several prominent guest appearances, issued the Merry Christmas from Andra Day EP that included Stevie Wonder on “Someday at Christmas,” and contributed to The Hamilton Mixtape.

Although the arrival of her second proper album stretched into the following decade, Day’s visibility expanded across media and musical styles. She supplied the voice of Sweet Tea for Cars 3 in 2017 and recorded “Stand Up for Something,” featuring Common, for the Marshall soundtrack; the song earned Academy Award and Grammy nominations in the visual-media song categories and was also nominated for Performance of the Year at the CMT Music Awards. Additional soundtrack and film projects preceded the 2018 single “Amen” and the 2020 release “Make Your Troubles Go Away,” with features on tracks by Sheryl Crow and Gary Clark, Jr. falling in between. Early in 2021 Day portrayed Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, securing a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama; “Tigress & Tweed,” co-written with Raphael Saadiq for the accompanying soundtrack, received a Best Original Song nomination. Later singles such as 2021’s “Phone Dies” and the 2024 tracks “Where Do We Go” and “Probably” blended modern production with evident gospel and soul roots. The latter two organic cuts preceded the May 2024 release of CASSANDRA (cherith), an album Day co-wrote and co-produced in full.