Andra Day

With a big, soulful voice and a style that evokes looks from earlier times, Andra Day landed a breakout role playing the troubled singer Billie Holiday in the 2021 movie The United States vs. Billie Holiday, directed by Lee Daniels. By this time, she was already established as a singer; her 2015 debut album, Cheers To The Fall, includes the song "Rise Up," which became an anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Her birth name is Cassandra Monique Batie. Her stage name as a combination of her nickname "Andra" and a reference to Billie Holiday's nickname, "Lady Day."

Andra Day earned a Grammy nomination for her first album (Best R&B Album for Cheers To The Fall, released in 2015) and an Oscar nomination for her first leading film role (Best Actress for The United States vs. Billie Holiday, released in 2021). She's not good at everything, though. She had a job at a video store that she quit on the first day.