"Daya" is an American singer and songwriter, (real name, Grace Martine Tandon, Daya was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her grandfather is Indian, and her stage name Daya is the Hindi word for "grace". At the age of 3, Tandon began to learn the piano, eventually converting to jazz piano at the age of eleven. By this time, she had also learned to play the guitar, ukulele, saxophone, and flute. At eleven, Daya enrolled as a student at the Accelerando Music Conservatory, owned by Christina Chirumbolo, where she eventually met songwriter and producer Gino Barletta, the two worked with Daya eventually inviting her to Los Angeles in February 2015 to work on her original material. Daya released her song "Hide Away" on April 22, 2015. The song was well-received online, enjoyed support from a number of notable bloggers including Tyler Oakley and Perez Hilton, the latter commenting "There is something very special about Daya's voice". Jason Lipshutz of Billboard also featured the single on their official website, labelling it "a gorgeous debut".