Dan Balan
| Dan Balan | |
|---|---|
Balan performing in 2012
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dan Balan |
| Born |
February 6, 1979 Chișinău, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Origin | Chișinău, Moldova |
| Genres | Pop rock, dance, pop |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | Sony Music, Universal Music, EMI, Gala Records/Warner, Media Pro Music, First Music Publishing |
| Associated acts | Inferialis, O-Zone, Crazy Loop, Katie DiCicco, Jack Joseph Puig, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Bob Clearmountain, Chris Lord-Alge, Tony Maserati, Andrea Bertolini, Corey Gibson, Jesse Dylan, Brasco, Chris Elliott, Isobel Griffiths, Vera Brezhneva, Ekaterina Vilkova |
| Website | danbalan.com |
Dan Bălan (Moldovan Cyrillic: Дан Бэлан; born 6 February 1979 in Chișinău) is a Moldovan musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the first and only Moldovan musician to be nominated for a Grammy as co-writer of Rihanna and T.I.'s "Live Your Life". He is the founder of European band O-Zone, and wrote and produced their international hit single "Dragostea Din Tei", which topped the charts in over 30 countries and sold over 12 million copies worldwide. He is also the songwriter and performer of European hit-singles "Chica Bomb", "Justify Sex" and "Freedom".
Balan was born on February 6, 1979 in Chișinău, to Mihai Balan, a diplomat who now works as the Head of Information and Security Service of the Republic of Moldova, and Ludmila Balan, a popular TV presenter. He has a sister, TV presenter Sanda Bălan (born 1984). His grandfather on maternal line, Boris Vasiliev, in childhood was deported in Siberia.
He was gifted his first instrument, a second-hand accordion, at age 11 and began pursuing music at a young age. Balan attended music school, but his parents urged him to attend university to study law. After following their wishes for a short time, he eventually left law school to play with his first band Inferialis, a gothic doom metal band.
After Balan formed the band, Inferialis held its first concert in 1995 in a concert hall in one of Chișinău's factories. His entire family was present at the concert, and his parents having been impressed by the performance bought him an expensive synthesizer. He spent the next two years performing with the band, taking several small gigs, and then decided to move to commercial-sounding music. In an interview, he explained that he had never considered himself a heavy metal musician and instead identified as a producer with an interest in working with varying musical styles. He started experimenting and exploring a new, commercial pop sound, and recorded and released his first solo song, "De la Mine", in 1998.
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