Vidya Vox

Vidya Vox
Vidya Vox
Personal information
Born	Vidya Iyer; September 26, 1990 (age 34); Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	American
Occupations	Musician; actress; YouTuber; vlogger; dancer;
Website	www.vidyavox.com
YouTube information
Also known as	Vidya Vox
Channel	VidyaVox;
Years active	2015 – present
Genres	Vlogs; Indian classical music; Carnatic music; classical; rants; western; pop;
Subscribers	7.63 million
Total views	1.2 billion
Network	Studio71
Associated acts	Shankar Tucker, Arjun
Creator Awards
	Last updated: September 11, 2024

Vidya Iyer (born September 26, 1990), better known by her stage name Vidya Vox, is an American YouTuber and singer.^[2] She was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and immigrated with her family to the United States at the age of eight. According to NBC News, her music is a mix of "Western pop, electronic dance music, Bollywood hits, and Indian classical music."^[2] Since beginning her channel in April 2015, her videos have received over 906 million views, and her channel has accumulated over 7 million subscribers.^[2]^[4]

Personal life

Iyer was born in a Tamil family in Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India and was raised in Virginia in the United States.^[5] Her family is from Palakkad, Kerala, and her mother and grandmother grew up in Kerala.^[6] She speaks Tamil at home. She learned Carnatic music from the age of 5 and enjoyed listening to English music. She stated to having an identity crisis, being bullied for being Indian, and hiding her culture while growing up, but has stated she "now feels proud" of her culture.^[5]

She was inspired by her grandmother to pursue Indian classical music. She became confident of her Indian roots in college, joined the Indian Student Association, and joined Indian folk dance teams. She studied psychology and biomedical sciences at George Washington University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences. She moved to India for two years to learn music.^[2]

She collaborated on music with her sister, Vandana Iyer, and her boyfriend, Shankar Tucker, whom she met in college.^[2] She participates in bhangra and hip hop dance.^[2]

Career

Vidya Iyer regularly sings in a band organized by Tucker, along with percussionist Jomy George.^[7]^[8] She has performed in various locations around the world, including the White House, National Centre for the Performing Arts (India), and Webster Hall. She has performed at Festivals Des Artes on Réunion; for INK Women; in Suriname; in Dubai; and at the Meru Concert Series in the Netherlands.^[9]

Her most popular mashup was "Closer / Kabira", a mash up of "Closer" by Chainsmokers and "Kabira" from the Bollywood film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani which clocked in over 55 million views in 7 months. One of her mashups is "Lean On" and "Jind Mahi", for which she had a collaboration with several other musicians, including Ricky Jatt, Raashi Kulkarni, and Roginder "Violinder" Momi.^[10] She released "Kuttanadan Punjayile", a Kerala boat song, as a fusion along with an English song written by Tucker and herself, which was shot in Kerala with Mohiniyattam performed by Sreenidhi and Sreedevi. In 2016, she released her EP, Kuthu Fire, which was produced by Shankar Tucker, and co-written by Shankar Tucker and herself.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Discography

Original Score

Year	Album	Song	Credited as			Co-singer(s)	Notes
Year	Album	Song	Composer	Lyricist	Producer	Co-singer(s)	Notes
2017	Kuthu Fire	"Kuthu Fire"	N	Y	N		Co-written, composed and produced by Shankar Tucker
		"Diamonds"	Y	Y	N	Arjun	Co-written, composed and produced by Shankar Tucker
		"Diamonds"	Y	Y	N	Arjun	Co-written by Arjun Coomarsamy
		"Be Free" (Pallivaalu Bhadravattakam)	Y	Y	Y	Vandana Iyer	Videography and Editing by Shankar Tucker
		"Home"	N	Y	N		Co-written, composed, directed and produced by Shankar Tucker
		"Show Me Your Light"	Y	Y	N
		"Tamil Born Killa"	N	Y	N
		"Tamil Born Killa"	N	Y	N		Additionally written by Akshaya Tucker
2018	Minnale		Y	Y	Y		Partnered with Global Desi
	Kaadhal Thozhi		N	N	N		Tamil lyrics by Madhan Karky
	Kaadhal Thozhi		N	N	N		Co-written, composed, directed and produced by Shankar Tucker
	Fly Away		N	N	N	MaatiBaani
	Fly Away		N	N	N	MaatiBaani	Gujarati lyrics by MaatiBaani
2019	Mad Dreams	"Appadi Poodu Di"	Y	Y	Y		Produced by Shrutibox Music
		"Mad Dreams"	Y	Y	Y		Co-written by Shankar Tucker, Casey Breves and Sam Tsui
		"Butterfly"	Y	Y	Y
		"Lose the Night"	Y	Y	Y		Produced by Shrutibox Music
		"Look at the Lights"	Y	Y	Y		Co-written by Shankar Tucker, Mindy Jones
	Make a Move		Y	Y	N		Co-written and Produced by Shankar Tucker
	Make a Move		Y	Y	N		Additionally written by Casey Breves and Sam Tsui
2020	Faded Love		Y	Y	Y	Co-written and performed by Devenderpal Singh
	Thalaivi		Y	Y	N		Co-written and Produced by Shankar Tucker
	Lost in the Summer		Y	Y	N		Co-written and Produced by Shankar Tucker
2021	Nachle		Y	Y	N	Trichia Grace-Ann Rebello & Shrey Jadav	Produced by Adil S Aziz
2021	Melt In My Touch		Y	Y	N		Co-written and Produced by Shankar Tucker
2022	Vanakkam		Y	Y	Y
	Moonlight (Pera Sollu)		Y	Y	N	Shankar Tucker	Co-written and Produced by Shankar Tucker
	Dream Catcher \| Tu Paas Aana		Y	Y	N	Shashwat Singh	Co-written and Produced by Shankar Tucker
	Dream Catcher \| Tu Paas Aana		Y	Y	N	Shashwat Singh	Additionally written by Shashwat Singh
2023	Shubha Mangalyam \| Made in the Stars		Y	Y	N		Additionally written by Seetha Jayakumar (Malayalam), Neeraj Pandey (Hindi)
2023	Shubha Mangalyam \| Made in the Stars		Y	Y	N		Co-written and Produced by Shankar Tucker
2024	Sundari	"Stardust"	Y	Y	N		Produced by Shankar Tucker
		"Stardust"	Y	Y	N		Tamil lyrics by Madhan Karky
		"Sundari"	Y	Y	N		Tamil lyrics by Madhan Karky
		"Sundari"	Y	Y	N		Co-written and produced by Shankar Tucker
		"Ini Ninte Lokam (Go Off)"	Y	Y	N		Co-written by Ambrose Tucker and Seetha Jayaraman
		"Ini Ninte Lokam (Go Off)"	Y	Y	N		Produced by Shankar Tucker
		"Dangerous"	Y	Y	N	Nikhita Gandhi
		"Champagne Roses"	Y	Y	N
		"Champagne Roses"	Y	Y	N		Co-written by Ambrose Tucker
		"Yazhiha"	Y	Y	N		Co-written by Rohith Jayaraman, Ambrose Tucker and Madhan Karky
		"Yazhiha"	Y	Y	N		Produced by Shankar Tucker

As singer

Year	Song	Composer	Co-singer(s)	Notes
2024	Kaakarattan	G. V. Prakash Kumar	Rajalakshmi Senthilganesan	^[14]

References

^ ^a ^b "About". Vidya Vox. December 9, 2015. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Luhar, Monica (November 17, 2017). "As a kid, Vidya Vox hid her Indian roots. Now, her music merges India and the U.S." NBC News. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "About VidyaVox". YouTube.
^ "Be Free (Pallivaalu Bhadravattakam) ft. Vandana Iyer". YouTube. January 9, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Vidya Vox proud to be Indian in America". IANS. November 22, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
^ Jaames, Merin Maria (January 17, 2016). "Stylish makeover for Malayalam folk song". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
^ Sreenivasan, Deepthi (July 14, 2016). "Black or brown, Jomy George is a maestro". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
^ Khan, Farah (April 28, 2016). "Vidya Vox Returns to Her Roots With Latest 'Jodhaa Akbar'-Adele Mashup". India.com. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
^ "The mashup star". The Hindu. August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
^ "Singer Vidya Vox on Blending two Musical Worlds: East and West". India.com. January 8, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
^ "The Famous Kerala Boat Song 'Kuttanadan Punjayile' Just Got A New Twist And It Sounds Awesome". The Huffington Post. January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
^ "Vidya and Shankar Tucker gives Kerala's favourite boat song 'Kuttanadan Punjayile' a classic twist". India Today. January 14, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
^ "Stylish makeover for Malayalam folk song". Deccan Chronicle. January 17, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
^ Vijaykumar, Vaishali (March 26, 2024). "Rooted in culture,global in appeal". Indian Express. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

External links

Official website
Vidya Vox at IMDb

[about-1] "About". Vidya Vox. December 9, 2015. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.

[vid2-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Luhar, Monica (November 17, 2017). "As a kid, Vidya Vox hid her Indian roots. Now, her music merges India and the U.S." NBC News. Retrieved February 25, 2021.

[YouTubeStatsVidyaVox-3] "About VidyaVox". YouTube.

[4] "Be Free (Pallivaalu Bhadravattakam) ft. Vandana Iyer". YouTube. January 9, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2019.

[vidya1-5] "Vidya Vox proud to be Indian in America". IANS. November 22, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2021.

[6] Jaames, Merin Maria (January 17, 2016). "Stylish makeover for Malayalam folk song". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved November 6, 2022.

[7] Sreenivasan, Deepthi (July 14, 2016). "Black or brown, Jomy George is a maestro". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2022.

[8] Khan, Farah (April 28, 2016). "Vidya Vox Returns to Her Roots With Latest 'Jodhaa Akbar'-Adele Mashup". India.com. Retrieved June 22, 2022.

[9] "The mashup star". The Hindu. August 21, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.

[10] "Singer Vidya Vox on Blending two Musical Worlds: East and West". India.com. January 8, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2015.

[11] "The Famous Kerala Boat Song 'Kuttanadan Punjayile' Just Got A New Twist And It Sounds Awesome". The Huffington Post. January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2015.

[12] "Vidya and Shankar Tucker gives Kerala's favourite boat song 'Kuttanadan Punjayile' a classic twist". India Today. January 14, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2015.

[13] "Stylish makeover for Malayalam folk song". Deccan Chronicle. January 17, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2015.

[14] Vijaykumar, Vaishali (March 26, 2024). "Rooted in culture,global in appeal". Indian Express. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

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