Voice of an Angeles

What does it take to live your dream before you've turned 20? Jaipur singer Cherry, now performing in LA, spills the tea

-  Karishma Kuenzang

At 19, every kid dreams of fame. They're typically doing it while lying in bed, music playing on Spotify. In the case of 19-year-old Cherry, she IS the music playing on Spotify. Her pop ballads in English and Hindi have gone viral. Her deep, haunting voice is drawing listeners in LA, where she moved just about a year ago. She has just wrapped up a three-city tour of India and is readying for the release of a Bengali song, for Bejoy Nambiar's series Kaala, on Disney+ Hotstar.

How she got there is the stuff of dreams too. Cherry, aka Daatri Dadhich, has no background in music, no famous family, no connections. She spent her life in Rajasthan, in Salasar Balaji, a temple town "so small and so religious, that no one would ever think of becoming a music star", and Jaipur, three hours away. She did, however, find music early, and held on to it with all her might.

Opening notes

Growing up in Rajasthan, Cherry says she was exposed to the "same nine English songs" that topped mainstream charts and were accessible to everyone else. She tuned into film music, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and One Direction. It was exciting enough for her to seek out Metallica, Louis Armstrong, Lady Gaga, AR Rahman, Salim-Suleiman and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy later. By age nine, she was putting on little performances at home. "I wasn't afraid to try new things," says Cherry. By 11, she was working her way up from singing at birthday parties to PTA meetings.