David Debrandon Brown (born September 25, 1985), professionally known as Lucky Daye, is an American singer-songwriter from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is signed to Keep Cool Records and RCA Records. He released his first EP, I on November 9, 2018, and his second EP, II, on February 6, 2019. The EPs were part of a series leading up to his debut studio album Painted, which was released on May 24, 2019. Daye has earned a collective of six Grammy Award nominations for his musical work.
Early life
David Debrandon Brown was born on September 25, 1985 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was raised in a cult that forbade secular music, but he discovered an innate knack for singing and taught himself melodies by turning children books into songs of his own. After his mother left the cult, Brown found himself going back to immerse himself in classic R&B and eventually fell hard for the likes of Prince, Rick James, Lauryn Hill, and Stevie Wonder. He soon relocated to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue music.
Musical career
Daye previously competed on American Idol (Season 4 in 2005), at age 19. He auditioned with "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke, and was given four "yes" votes. He was eliminated shortly after reaching the Top 20.
Daye established himself as a songwriter and background vocalist and landed credits in 2008 on songs by Keith Sweat on his album Just Me and Ne-Yo on "She Got Her Own" In 2014, he wrote for Boyz II Men on the song "Believe Us". During 2016 and 2017, he co-wrote songs released by Keke Palmer ("Enemiez"), Ella Mai ("10,000 Hours," "Down"), Trey Songz ("Song Goes Off"), and two tracks from the album Strength of a Woman by Mary J. Blige, among other contemporary R&B artists.
In October 2018, Daye announced that he has signed to Keep Cool Records and RCA Records, and released his first single called "Roll Some Mo". On November 9, he released his first EP titled I, which is part of a series leading up to his forthcoming debut studio album Painted.
On January 17, 2019, Daye released the first single from the second EP in the series called "Karma". On February 6, 2019, he released the second installment of the EP series, II. He is slated to go on tour with Ella Mai beginning in February 2019. In November 2019, Daye received four nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards including one for Best R&B Album for his debut Painted. On November 21, 2019, Daye opened for R&B singer Khalid on his Free Spirit tour in New Zealand.
On September 25, 2020, he co-wrote English singer Zayn's single, "Better".
On February 12, 2021, Daye released his first EP since 2019, titled Table for Two.
On May 21, 2021, Daye released a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” to celebrate the 50th anniversary of What’s Going On.