Inna facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Inna
|
|
|---|---|
Inna on the set of Masked Singer România in 2021
|
|
| Born |
Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu
16 October 1986 Mangalia, Romania
|
| Education | Ovidius University |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2008–present |
|
Works
|
Discography |
| Partner(s) | Deliric (2020–present; engaged) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres |
|
| Labels | |
| Associated acts |
|
Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (born on October 16, 1986), known as Inna, is a popular Romanian singer. She was born in Mangalia and grew up in Neptun. Before becoming a singer, she studied political science at Ovidius University.
In 2008, Inna met the Romanian music group Play & Win and started her music career. She first used the stage name "Alessandra" and sang pop-rock music. Later that year, she changed her stage name to "Inna" and began making EDM, house, and popcorn music. Her first song, "Hot" (2008), became a big hit around the world. It reached number one in Romania and on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart. Her first album, also called Hot, came out in August 2009 and was very successful. It included other popular songs like "Amazing" (2009), which was her second song to reach number one in Romania.
Inna's second album, I Am the Club Rocker (2011), featured the worldwide hit "Sun Is Up" (2010). This song won the Eurodanceweb Award, making Inna the first Romanian artist to win it. Her album Party Never Ends (2013) was nominated for Best Album at the Romanian Music Awards twice. It also included "More than Friends" with Daddy Yankee. In 2014, Inna signed with Atlantic Records and released "Cola Song" with J Balvin, which was used to promote the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Her fourth album, Inna, came out in October 2015. It featured "Diggy Down", which was her third song to reach number one in Romania. Since 2017, Inna has been a coach on the TV talent show Vocea României Junior. Her fifth album, Nirvana, was released in 2017. In 2018, she signed with Roc Nation and released her sixth album, Yo, in May 2019. This album was different because Inna created it all herself and sang in Spanish, exploring new music styles. Her song "Bebe" reached number one in Romania in March 2020. Inna also had success with "Flashbacks" (2021) and "Up" (2021). "Flashbacks" was the first song from her seventh album, Heartbreaker, released in November 2020. Her eighth album, Champagne Problems, came out in two parts in 2022.
Inna is known as the best-selling Romanian artist, with millions of albums sold. She has won many awards, including the Balkan Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards. Inna also supports important causes, like fighting against domestic violence and helping children's rights.
Contents
Life and Career Journey
Early Life and Music Beginnings (1986–2007)
Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu was born on October 16, 1986, in Mangalia, Romania. She grew up in Neptun. Her father worked as a sea rescuer, and her mother was a dancer and singer. As a child, Inna enjoyed swimming, football, and basketball, as well as music.
When she was a teenager, Inna listened to many types of music, including electro house and europop. She admired artists like Celine Dion, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, and Whitney Houston. After finishing elementary school in Neptun, she went to Economy College in Mangalia and later studied political science at Ovidius University in Constanța. She also took singing lessons and performed at music festivals.
While working in an office, Inna's manager heard her singing and connected her with the music producers Play & Win. She recorded several songs with them. In 2008, she first used the stage name Alessandra and tried to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with her songs "Goodbye" and "Sorry," but they were not chosen. She performed "Goodbye" on TV, which was her first time on television. Later that year, she changed her stage name to Inna because it was easy to remember and was a nickname her grandfather used for her.
First Big Hits: Hot and I Am the Club Rocker (2008–2011)
Inna's first song, "Hot", was played on Romanian radio in August 2008. It quickly became number one in Romania and was very popular across Europe. It also topped Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart in 2010. This song helped make Romanian popcorn music popular around the world.
Her second song, "Love" (2009), reached number four in Romania. Inna received her first awards nominations for "Hot" at the 2009 Eska Music Awards in Poland. In April 2009, her Romanian music label, Roton, signed a deal with the American label Ultra Records.
Inna worked with Romanian musician Bogdan Croitoru on her next song, "Déjà Vu" (2009). They released it using fake names at first, which made people curious, before revealing who they really were. This song was also very successful. Inna had her second number-one hit in Romania with "Amazing" in 2009.
Inna's first album, Hot, was released in August 2009. It also included the song "10 Minutes" (2010). The album sold very well and was certified Gold in Romania and Platinum in France. By December 2011, it had sold 500,000 copies worldwide. Inna won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Romanian Act at the 2009 and 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards. She was the first Romanian artist to win this award two years in a row.
Inna's sixth song, "Sun Is Up", came out in October 2010 and reached number two in Romania. It was also popular in other European countries. "Sun Is Up" won the Eurodanceweb Award in 2010, which was the first time Romania had won it.
Her second album, I Am the Club Rocker, was released in September 2011. It included the song "Club Rocker", which had a remix with American rapper Flo Rida. This album was praised by her label Roton and was certified Gold in Poland. Inna promoted the album with her "I Am the Club Rocker Tour" (2011–12) in Europe and the United States. She even arrived by helicopter at her first big concert in Bucharest, Romania.
The song "Club Rocker" (2011) was quite successful. Three more songs from the album, "Un Momento" (2011), "Endless" (2011), and "Wow" (2012), were also released. "Endless" reached number five in Romania, and "Wow" was in the top ten. In 2011, Inna became one of the highest-paid artists from Romania and Eastern Europe.
New Albums and Collaborations (2012–2016)
In 2012, Inna released the song "Caliente", which she dedicated to her fans in Mexico. ..... Another top ten hit, "Inndia" (2012), followed. Inna performed a concert in Dubai on New Year's Eve.
Her third album, Party Never Ends, was released in March 2013. It featured successful songs like "More than Friends" (2013) with Daddy Yankee and "In Your Eyes" (2013) with Yandel. Party Never Ends reached number ten in Mexico and was nominated for Best Album at the Romanian Music Awards in 2013 and 2014. In 2013, Inna was a guest singer on "P.O.H.U.I." by the Moldovan group Carla's Dreams, which reached number three in Romania.
"Cola Song", a song with J Balvin released in April 2014, was very popular in Europe. It was used to promote the 2014 FIFA World Cup and was even in the dance video game Just Dance 2017. In 2014, Inna also worked with Pitbull again on "Good Time".
Inna released her fourth album, Inna, in October 2015. One of the songs from this album was "Diggy Down" (2014), which became her third number-one hit in Romania. Her next song, "Bop Bop" (2015), reached number two in Romania, and "Rendez Vous" (2016) was certified Gold in Poland. In 2015, Inna was named Best Romanian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
New Music and TV Shows (2016–Present)
In August 2016, Inna performed at the Untold Festival. She also joined a music group called G Girls and released two songs with them. In early 2017, Inna became a coach on Vocea României Junior, a TV show where she helps young singers. By May of that year, her YouTube channel had over two billion views.
Inna's fifth album, Nirvana, was released in December 2017. Songs from this album, like "Gimme Gimme" (2017), "Ruleta" (2017), and "Nirvana" (2017), were successful in Europe. "Ruleta" and "Nirvana" reached numbers three and two in Romania.
Inna released her sixth album, Yo, in May 2019. This album had songs only in Spanish, and Inna was in charge of all the creative parts. She worked closely with Romanian producer David Ciente. Inna described the music on Yo as different and inspired by gypsy music. The first song from the album, "Ra", was released in September 2018. Inna promoted it by appearing in Mexico and the United States, and in magazines like Rolling Stone. She also signed a music deal with Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation. Her next song, "Iguana", reached number four in Romania. In August, Inna started her own digital magazine called InnaMag.
The song "Bebe" with Ugandan artist Vinka became number one in Romania in March 2020. This song was the first of many that returned to a more EDM sound. Since 2020, Inna has been a judge on Pro TV's The Masked Singer Romania show.
Inna released her seventh album, Heartbreaker, on November 27, 2020. She created this album in just three weeks with other Romanian songwriters and producers. She filmed daily vlogs from a mansion to show her fans how the album was being made. In January 2021, her song "Read My Lips" (2020) with Colombian singer Farina reached number ten in Romania. By May, "Flashbacks", the main song from Heartbreaker, was number one in Russia and in the top ten in Romania, Ukraine, and Bulgaria.
In October 2021, Inna released the song "Up", which became popular in Bulgaria, Poland, and Russia in early 2022. This song, which later got a remix with Jamaican rapper Sean Paul, also became Inna's fifth number-one hit in Romania. Champagne Problems, her eighth album, was released in two parts in January and March 2022. In June 2022, Inna's song "Tare" with the Motans reached number one in Romania. Her ninth album, Just Dance, was released in 2023 in two parts.
On April 10, 2025, "Echo", a song with singer Babasha, was released.
Helping Others and Awards
In November 2011, Inna joined a campaign called Durerea nu este iubire (Pain is Not Love) to fight against domestic violence. She signed a petition asking the Romanian government to make laws stronger against abuse. Inna also supports children's rights in Romania and helped with the 2012 UNICEF "No More Invisible Children" campaign. She started her own campaign, "Bring the Sun Into My Life," to make people more aware of violence against women.
Inna recorded a song called "Tu tens la força" ("You Have the Power") for a TV fundraiser in 2015. In 2016, she joined Cartoon Network Romania's "CN Friendship Club" to help stop bullying. That same year, Inna and other Romanian celebrities signed a letter to support the LGBT community. In March 2022, Inna performed at the "We Are One" concert in Bucharest, which raised money to help Ukraine.
The Guardian newspaper called Inna "one of Romania's biggest exports" because of how many songs she has sold and how popular she is. She has won many awards, including five Balkan Music Awards, a European Border Breakers Award, three MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Romanian Act, and thirteen Romanian Music Awards. By March 2016, Inna had sold four million copies of her first three albums. In 2015, it was reported that Inna was Romania's best-selling artist outside of her home country.
About Inna's Life
Inna dated her manager Lucian Ștefan for ten years until 2013. In the same year, she started a relationship with American photographer John Perez. Since 2020, Inna has been dating Romanian rapper Deliric, who proposed to her in January 2023. As of March 2017, Inna lived with her mother and grandmother in a house she bought in Bucharest. She also lives in Barcelona. In May 2018, Inna had to go to the hospital after falling on a stage during her tour in Turkey, but her tour continued. Inna can speak many languages, including Romanian, English, Spanish, a little French, and a few words in Italian, Arabic, and Russian. She says this helps her connect with people from different countries.
Music Albums
Studio albums
- Hot (2009)
- I Am the Club Rocker (2011)
- Party Never Ends (2013)
- Inna (2015)
- Nirvana (2017)
- Yo (2019)
- Heartbreaker (2020)
- Champagne Problems (2022)
- Just Dance (2023)
- Everything Or Nothing (2024)
- El Pasado (2024)
More to Explore
- List of music released by Romanian artists that has charted in major music markets
- List of certified albums in Romania
Images for kids
-
Inna's logo
See also
In Spanish: Inna para niños
