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Mt. Lebanon Girl About To Become Next Big Pop Princess

MOUNT LEBANON (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh has produced some pretty big celebrities in mainstream music today, and now a new name is about to be added to the ranks.

Professionally, she's known as "Daya," and her six song EP is now on sale at the Target at South Hills Village. But by day, Grace Tandon is just a senior at Mount Lebanon High School.

She turned 17 less than a week ago, and at that young age, she is on the road to stardom.

"My life has changed in the past couple of months," says Tandon. "A couple of months ago, I was just a junior in high school, and now I'm on the road, promoting my single on the radio, and doing shows and meeting fans and everything."

That single is called "Hide Away." Daya co-wrote the song and it has a message.

"I think it's a good message for girls to hear that they don't have to be chasing after someone, that they can find themselves first and wait it out for a good guy to come along," says Tandon.

Daya, which is Hindu for "grace," says she always knew music would be her life back when she began playing piano at the age of three.

"I was always into music, growing up going to concerts and listening to different artist, and going around at age 10 and just doing any gigs that I could find," she says.

Those gigs are pretty big now. She is the opening act at Stage AE Saturday night and it's sold out.

"And that's where I've seen a ton of my favorite artist like "21 Pilots," so it's going to be really surreal for me to be on stage where they have been," she says.

Daya has four sisters, and when she speaks, it seems to come from an old soul.

"One of the things we tried to tell the girls - it's more important who you are, then what you do, and to be a good person and to do the right thing," said Hahns Tandon, Daya's dad.

Daya spends a lot of time in Los Angeles these days, writing songs and doing videos. She is also taking her last senior course online and will graduate from Mount Lebanon High School next year.

Then, for Daya, the sky is the limit.

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