Tara Priya (born Tara Priya Chandra) is a London-based American singer-songwriter and vocalist. Tara Priya was born in San Francisco to a Persian mother, the niece of poet

Sohrab Sepehri Sohrab Sepehri ( 7 October 1928 – 21 April 1980; ) was a notable Iranian poet and painter. He is considered to be one of the five most famous Iranian poets who have practiced modern poetry alongside Nima Youshij, Ahmad Shamlou, Mehdi Akhav ...

, and an Indian father.

Early life

Tara Priya attended The

Harker School The Harker School is a private, co-educational school located in San Jose, California. Founded in 1893 as Manzanita Hall, Harker has three campuses: Bucknall, Union, and Saratoga, named after the streets on which they lie. Overview The Buc ...

in San Jose prior to

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York City. Priya majored in economics while studying

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and classical voice. After graduating from Columbia two years early, Priya moved to Los Angeles to focus on her career as a singer-songwriter. She started off by singing hooks on rap demos in underground hip-hop studios in exchange for recording time for her own R&B/soul music.

Career

Immediately after releasing a six-track

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

-inspired EP, Priya was nominated as one of the Best Emerging Artists by ''

The Deli Magazine ''The Deli'' was a Brooklyn-based independent music magazine, with both print and online editions, as well as a blog (still active) that covers local music scenes and their emerging artists. Magazine In its print version, ''The Deli'' was a qua ...

''. Shortly after, Priya was selected as one of three "Pop" genre finalists of the

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Songwriting Contest and named a category winner in the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Song Contest. In January 2012, Priya signed to Japanese indie

P-Vine Records P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name ...

after her EP was discovered in a record shop in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Japan. There, her first radio single "Run Like Hell" peaked at number 25 on the ''

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and Hanshin Contents Link since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thursday ...

and number six on the ''Billboard'' Japan Digital and Airplay chart. This led to two subsequent tours of Japan, through

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when ...

and Billboard Live, respectively. Clear Entertainment, a subsidiary of

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

Worldwide Pants Incorporated Worldwide Pants Incorporated is an American television and film production company founded and owned by comedian and talk show host David Letterman. The company was formerly headquartered at the Ed Sullivan Theater building in New York City, bu ...

, signed Priya to their management roster. The following March, Priya showcased at

SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

2013 in

Austin, TX Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, after which she was named an "emerging icon" by ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''. She then moved to London to work with British music producer Steve Booker on her 2014 album, ''Shot in the Dark'', which was released in Asia by P-Vine Records and published by the

Avex Group Avex Inc. ( kabushiki gaisha , commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex) is a Japanese Conglomerate (company), entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J- ...

. In autumn 2014, British popular music and fashion magazine and website Clash premiered new music from Priya, noting that the track was "somewhere between classic soul, trip hop and the slumped productions of J Dilla". The track, titled "One Foot Out", was co-produced by Priya and represented a significant departure from her earlier music. Subsequent releases throughout 2015 gained her UK press and radio support, including by

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

Tom Robinson Living people Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

, and UK record label and club

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...

. In November 2016,

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

premiered new music from Tara Priya, noting the singer "has been tipped for big things" and comparing her "sensual trip hop and soul" sound to fellow Londoner

Sinéad Harnett Sinéad Monica Harnett (born 12 October 1989) is an English singer and songwriter of Irish and Thai descent. Early life Born to a Thai mother and an Irish father who separated when she was a toddler, Harnett was raised by her mother in Finchley ...

Discography

* ''Tara Priya'' (2012) * ''Shot in the Dark'' (2014) * ''Friends Like These (EP) (2015)''

References

External links

*
MTV Artists page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Priya, Tara Living people 1989 births