An Indian-origin British artist who once “had trouble just saying (her) name,” is now a Grammy-nominated marvel. Meet Radhika Vekaria!
The multi-instrumentalist and sensory artist’s borders-transcending music not only bridges the East and West but is also a “true expression of her desire as a child to heal others,” per her official website. Her journey of self-discovery and enlightenment is further explored in her spellbinding album “Warriors of Light,” which is nominated for best new age, ambient, or chant album at Sunday’s Grammys.
Radhika Vekaria to join the likes of Taylor Swift at the 2025 Grammys
Living in the US since 2013, Vekaria grew up with a chronic speech impediment. On February 2 evening (US time), she will grace the Grammy Awards red carpet at the Crypto.com area in Los Angeles, joining mainstream pop culture icons like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan. The Indian-origin musician in her 30s is up against veteran Grammy nominee Anoushka Shankar’s “Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn,” the late Japanese legend Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Opus,” recording artist Chris Reddings’ “Visions of Sounds,” three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej’s “Break of Dawn,” and Wouter Kellerman, Éru Matsumoto & Chandrika Tandon’s “Triveni.”
Opening up about her early days, Vekaria shared in a recent interview with PEOPLE, “I had a very bad speech impediment, and I was severely bullied for it. We get bullied for many things in life. Mine was my ability to express myself. And so that was something that forced me into the silence of my own mind.”
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How music helped the Indian-origin Grammy-nominated artist ‘free’ her voice
Despite her disconnect with speech, Radhika somehow always knew that she could sing. “A lot of people who have a speech impediment actually are very good singers,” she added.
Further revealing how music boosted her emancipation, she said, “It’s really the essence of the music that I make that really helped me free my voice to be able to speak.” Even though she once never thought she would be doing all that she is checking off her artistic bucket list, her breakout 2020 album “Sapta: The Seven Way” helped her achieve the unthinkable.
Radhika Vekaria’s debut collection was responsible for her earning the title of the first mantra artist to perform at SXSW in Austin, Texas, in 2022. Recounting how her speech impediment “heal(ed) itself,” she explained, “As a 3-year-old, I would just naturally sing and chant mantras… as an adult, when I went back into that as a meditation, I realised that it was having a tremendous effect on my ability to articulate and speak.”
About Radhika Vekaria’s Grammy-nominated new age album
Revisiting the artistic origin story of “Warriors of Light,” her latest musical offering nominated at this year’s Grammys, Vekaria said, “It took four years of work to make it happen, and a lifetime of being made to realise the importance of finding my voice.”
Her album holds the essence of the saying, ‘Music knows no boundaries,’ especially since Radhika sings in not one but four languages: Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil and English. “It’s so wonderful to bring something that bridges ancient systems and cultures and philosophies into a more modern palette while still honouring the past. You can still be in the present while honouring the past.”
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First-time Grammy nominee’s artistic origin story
Vekaria kept up with her Western classical piano training while growing up in London, reports the Indian Express. However, her undeniable connection with Indian music spoke for itself. “Music of our heritage is so incredibly rich. I believe that there are two things that carry our culture very well – food and music. Both are very tangible visceral experiences. Everytime I heard Indian music, I felt it in my body. And the body doesn’t lie,” she said.
Though now ready to walk down the Grammy red carpet, she was originally on a path to becoming an oncologist, with plans to pursue academic highs at Oxbridge. Before making the life-changing decision, she had the courage to dream about music being a career prospect. Fortunately, her father, a music connoisseur, was nothing but supportive of the idea. “Very unlike an Indian parent, he was supportive and said that I should go ahead and do it,” she said of her father, whom she eventually lost to cancer.
Radhika Vekaria’s musical past
The life-turning moment for the young artist with no musical connections emerged in 2009 when she was selected through an audition process to do a few shows with AR Rahman. “I was playing with the sounds, because I did not know the language. He was also present and trying to vocalise that music was a life-changing experience,” said the Grammy-nominated artist. Patiala gharana classical vocalist Ajoy Chakrabarty briefly guided Vekaria on her path to becoming the artist she is today before her training at Ustad Ali Akbar College of Music in California.
