A few months back, Maria Thattil, the daughter of Indian immigrants, became Miss Australia 2020. Weeks later, Indian-origin American Senator, Kamala Harris, became the Vice President of the United States of America. Recently, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, an Indian-born politician, joined Jacinda Arden’s executive cabinet in New Zealand. And now, Indians have another reason to feel proud of their community–Indian-origin singer Priya Darshini has been nominated for a Grammy Award 2020.
Priya is a New York-based singer and has been nominated under the category of ‘Best New Age Album’ for her debut album called Periphery. The previous Indian to be nominated in the same category was Ricky Kej in 2014 who won the award for his album Wind of Samsara.
Priya Darshini hails from the city of Mumbai and comes from a Tamil family. She is a trained classical singer and loves to create innovative cross-cultural music. Priya’s debut album is an attempt at exploring her diverse cultural identity and she believes that it brings out the most vulnerable side of a person. While describing her album, she shared a post on her Instagram handle and wrote, “I wanted to explore music which brings out the vulnerable aspects of a person; that raw and unfiltered emotion. What does that music sound like? We wrote the whole record in the twelve days leading to the recording. The entire album was recorded on ONE mic, in an abandoned church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. What we got was an authentic view into that isolated, vulnerable and powerful space.”
Apart from singing, the 37-year-old singer is also an athlete and has created history by becoming the first Indian woman to complete the 100-mile Himalayan Ultra Marathon. She is a talented singer and has sung for more than hundreds of television and radio commercials as well as Indian soundtracks.
The multitalented artist has over the years worked with some globally renowned musicians like Jeff Coffin, Pearl Jam, Philip Lassiter, Roy “Futureman” Wooten, and ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro. The young entrepreneur is also a human rights and social justice activist (seriously, is there anything that she can’t do?).
The Grammy Awards are considered to be one of the most prestigious music awards in the world. Talking about her nomination, Priya shared a post on her Instagram recently, writing, “It’s really quite surreal and hasn’t sunk in yet. My phone hasn’t stopped buzzing and I’m doing my very best to get back to each one of you. I apologize if I’ve missed anyone. Please, know that I’m receiving all your love and sending more love right back. For those who are just getting to know about my album, I wanted to share with you again something that I’m very proud of. Earlier this year, I produced my first music video – for the single ‘Home’ from the recent Grammy-nominated album ‘Periphery’.”
All the best Priya! And, thank you for making Indians around the globe so proud!
Feature Image: Instagram
