Rhea Rajagopalan (born April 5, 2000), known professionally as Rhea Raj, is an American singer-songwriter. She is a

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...

winner for 2020, and is the

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

Gold House Gold House is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Singapore that promotes the interests of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. The collective consists of founders, creators, investors, ente ...

''Artist of the Year'' winner for 2023, an initiative to increase Asian talent in the music industry. She released her debut album, ''Hunter'', in 2024.

Early life

Rhea was born in Stamford, Connecticut, to

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

parents, Kavita Raj and Sri Rajagopalan. Her parents are both ethnically

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

. She grew up in New Jersey before moving to New York. Her mother taught

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

and

dance, which led Rhea to begin her interest in music. She has been musically trained since age 10. Her younger sister Lara is also a singer; she is a member of the girl group

Katseye Katseye (pronounced "cat's eye"; stylized in all caps) is a girl group based in Los Angeles, California. The group is composed of six members: Manon, Sophia, Daniela Avanzini, Daniela, Lara, Megan, and Yoonchae. With members from the Philippi ...

Career

2016: ''American Idol''

Raj appeared in the fifteenth season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' in 2016. She progressed from the audition stage but failed to pass the Hollywood Week round due to a throat infection.

2024–present: ''Hunter''

In 2024, Raj released her debut studio album, ''Hunter'', and a stripped down version of it called ''Hunter (Tamed edition)''. In April 2025, Raj performed at

Coachella Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music festival, music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valle ...

. The next month, she performed at

Wango Tango iHeartRadio Wango Tango, commonly referred to as simply Wango Tango, is an annual day-long concert produced by local Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM. The concert series has been staged at various venues around southern California including Dod ...

in Santa Monica.

Discography

;Studio albums * ''Hunter'' (2024) ;Singles *"2AM" (with UpsideDown) (2019) *"Royalty" (with UpsideDown and Happy Singh) (2019) *"You're a Star" (2019) *"Need Me" (with UpsideDown and Happy Singh) (2019) *"Overdose" (2020) *"Go Down" (2020) *"We Outside" (2022) *"Haute Couture" (with Aliyah's Interlude) (2025)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raj, Rhea Living people 2000 births Singers from New York City Singers from New Jersey Singer-songwriters from Connecticut American women songwriters American television actresses American women pop singers American people of Indian Tamil descent American female models of Indian descent American actresses of Indian descent American singers of Indian descent 21st-century American women singers