Kaleena Zanders was working at a Trader Joe's in Hollywood, having moved from San Jose to study at the Musicians Institute, when a friend mentioned a DJ who needed someone to sing on an EDM track — that one referral is the entire reason she became dance music's go-to vocalist rather than a working retail employee with a music degree.
She'd built her voice on gospel and on Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin growing up, and it shows: "Carry Us," her collaboration with LP Giobbi, made Billboard's 40 Best Dance Songs of 2021, and "Stronger Than I've Ever Been" soundtracked a Toyota commercial during Super Bowl LII.
More than 300 million streams later, 2026 brings her actual debut album and the Anything Goes Tour, her first national headlining run — the vocalist-for-hire finally stepping fully into her own name after building someone else's catalog for years.