--- --- Feb 21, 2024 # Andra Day Is Evolving Her Sound by [Moises Mendez](https://time.com/author/moises-mendez-ii/) ## Moises Mendez  JP Yim—Getty Images for The Kering Foundation When Andra Day [stepped onto the podium](https://time.com/6693421/super-bowl-singers-performers-usher/) at [Super Bowl LVIII](https://time.com/6694282/super-bowl-lviii-2024-most-watched-viewership-record/), it was a moment she had waited years to experience—not because she was singing on the biggest television broadcast of the year, but because she was finally given the chance to perform the Black national anthem. For years, Day had been trying to pivot invitations to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” into an opportunity to perform [“Lift Every Voice and Sing.”](https://time.com/5864238/black-national-anthem/) “I had always been denied,” she says. “I got to a point where I was like, OK, until I can do _that_ anthem, I don’t really want to do it again.” Day, 39, burst onto the scene in 2015 with her song [“Rise Up,”](https://time.com/collection/american-voices-2017/5029505/american-voices-andra-day/) a rousing power ballad that earned a Grammy nomination and later became an anthem for Black Lives Matter protests. In 2021, in her [first leading role](https://www.thecut.com/2021/04/andra-day-cut-cover-april-2021.html) in a feature film, she played one of the most legendary singers of all time in director Lee Daniels’ [_The United States vs. Billie Holiday_](https://time.com/5942465/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday-review/)_,_ a performance for which she nabbed a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination while the soundtrack took home a Grammy. She has filmed another movie with Daniels, _The Deliverance,_ and one with writer-director Titus Kaphar, _Exhibiting Forgiveness,_ both of which are forthcoming. Fans have expressed hopes that she might someday play another influential singer onscreen: Eartha Kitt. “I’ve heard the calls, and I’ve been a fan of hers for a long time,” Day says. But Day has spoken about the immense pressure she felt to do justice to Holiday’s story, and there was a cost: to capture Holiday’s sound, she smoked cigarettes during filming and damaged her voice. It was something she contended with as she prepared for the Super Bowl and in recording her second album—_Cassandra_—which she’ll release this spring. “I’m really just trying to heal my voice and learn the new pocket that it’s in,” she says. Day has been working on the new album since 2017, experimenting with different sounds and ideas. She’s aware that many people will expect her to deliver inspirational songs like “Rise Up,” but music like that can’t be forced. “Maybe I will inspire differently on this album by just talking about my experiences,” she says. “I gave myself the freedom to do that.” Andra Day Is Evolving Her Sound ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6692798/andra-day-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6692798/andra-day-2/"},"headline":"Andra Day Is Evolving Her Sound","datePublished":"2024-02-21T11:23:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:28:23.803Z","description":"The singer talks about performing the Black national anthem at Super Bowl LVIII, forthcoming acting projects, and working on her new album.","url":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6692798/andra-day-2/","keywords":["sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c5dcf0a61a965e9/698a4895457a52dd3cd68d3a/time-women-of-the-year-andra-day.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Moises Mendez","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/moises-mendez-ii/"}],"creator":"Moises Mendez","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c5dcf0a61a965e9/698a4895457a52dd3cd68d3a/time-women-of-the-year-andra-day.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6692798/andra-day-2/","name":"Andra Day Is Evolving Her Sound"}}]}] ```