Vidya Vox is an American singer, songwriter, and YouTuber.
Wiki/Biography
Vidya Vox was born as “Vidya Iyer” (29 years old in 2019) on Wednesday, September 26, 1990, and her birthplace is Chennai. Her zodiac sign is Libra.
Vidya Vox in her childhood
She started learning Carnatic music when she was five years old. When she was eight, her family immigrated to the United States. She grew up in Virginia, USA. She earned a major in psychology and an associate degree in biomedical sciences from George Washington University and planned to take the MCAT in 2012 to enter medical school. In the meantime, she also worked in a clinic. In the midst of all this, she decided to pursue a career in music. Later, she moved to India for two years to learn Carnatic classical music and western vocal music. She learned Carnatic music from DK Nagarajan, the brother of DK Patammal.
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 3″
Eye color: Black
Hair color: Black
Family and caste
She was born into a Tamil family. She has an elder sister named Vandana Iyer.
Vidya Vox with her mother and sister
She has a boyfriend named Shankar Tucker, a clarinetist and music composer.
Vidya Vox and her boyfriend
Profession
In 2011, Vidya collaborated with her sister Vandana and boyfriend Shankar to dub for the song “Nee Nenaindal” written by Shankar on his YouTube channel The Shruti Box.
She performs regularly with Shankar’s band. She has performed at the White House, India’s National Centre for the Performing Arts and Webster Hall and has also participated in various events such as the Reunion Festival, INK Women in Suriname, Dubai and the Meru Concert Series in the Netherlands. She created her YouTube channel in 2014 and uploaded her first video, which was a remix of Sia’s song “Big Girls Cry” and “Kabhi Jo Badal Barse”; due to copyright issues with Yash Raj Films, the video is no longer available. Her YouTube channel has over 6.5 million subscribers. Some of her hit songs that she has covered include Love Me Like You Do|Hosanna, Closer|Kabira, Lean On|Jind Mahi, We Don’t Talk Anymore|Pani Da Rang and Kuttanadan Punjayile (a famous boat song from Kerala).
Her first album was released in 2017 and was titled Kuthu Fire.
Her second album is Mad Dreams (2019).
Awards and Achievements
- YouTube Creator Awards – Silver Button 2015
Vidya Vox receives the award
- YouTube Creator Awards – Gold Button 2016
Favorite things
- Food: Rice, Dal, Bhindi Sabzi, Dosa & Sambhar, Pizza, Tacos, Burritos
- Song: Jiya Jale, from the movie Dil Se (1998)
Facts/Trivia
- She enjoys playing tennis, reading and dancing.
- According to her, her father was very abusive and controlling towards her mother. He dictated what her family should wear and what they should do. When he became too violent, her mother took her and her sister away. However, because of this, her music teacher refused to teach Vidya music.
- Growing up in America wasn’t easy for Vidya, as she was not accepted in school as an Indian.
Growing up in America as an Indian was not easy. I was teased about Indian food, the color of my skin, and why my knees and elbows were black.”
- As an Indian living in the United States, she experienced a fusion of two cultures while growing up. Speaking about this, she said,
It was interesting. It always felt like two different worlds. At home, I would sing bhajans and kritis and eat dosa and samba, but when I went to school, I would listen to the Backstreet Boys, Destiny’s Child and Usher and eat pizza. The pull between the two cultures scared me.”
- While studying pre-med, Vidya started her YouTube channel and started posting videos. After graduation, she decided to choose music as her career.
- Her pen name, ‘Vox’, means ‘voice’ in Latin. She came up with the name when she realised that Shankar had saved her recordings as ‘Vidya Vox’.
- She is fluent in Tamil, Telugu, English, Hindi and French.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education