Alexandra Stan

Alexandra Ioana Stan[8] was born on 10 June 1989 in Constanța, Romania, to Daniela and George Stan,[2][9] and has a sister, Andreea, who is three years older.[10][11] Stan's father had used to work as a cook on a ship and was thus absent for a large part of her childhood in the Faleză Nord neighbourhood, which she stated had a large emotional impact on her. In 2005, her family was confronted by financial problems due to the father's degrading health condition and moved to the Valu lui Traian commune, where Stan earned money as a waitress.[11] She recalls having self-esteem issues and being bullied by classmates for being poor, for which she has eventually undergone post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) therapy.[11][12]

Showing an interest in music from a very young age, Stan studied at the Traian Secondary School and later at the Faculty of Management Andrei Șaguna, but dropped out of the latter in favour of pursuing a music career.[11][2] Her public singing debut was at a Romanian televised show when she was 15 years old.[13] She eventually participated in various music contests, including the Mamaia Music Festival in 2009.[2][14] Romanian producers and songwriters Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi discovered Stan that year at a karaoke bar in Constanța and signed her to their record label, Maan Records.[14] Retrospectively, in a 2021 interview, Stan claimed that the contract disrespected human rights and was written in a way so that Prodan and Nemirschi could have a widespread control over her. According to Stan, her reproaching this matter and the alleged underpayment she was facing to them resulted in several tensions.[11] Stan rose to moderate fame and began being booked for concerts in Romania with the release of her debut single "Lollipop (Param Pam Pam)" (2009), which was given notable radio airplay.[2][11] Stan's father was involved in her management for two years early in her career.[11]

Stan at the Austrian Sports Personality of the Year awards in 2011

In 2010,[15] Stan released her international breakthrough single "Mr. Saxobeat".[2] The song first achieved success in Romania, where it peaked at number one on the Romanian Top 100 for eight consecutive weeks.[3] It then became acclaimed worldwide, topping the record charts in several other countries, and selling almost one million copies in less than year.[2][16][17] It has also received various Music recording certifications, including Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[18] At the 2011 Romanian Music Awards, Stan and "Mr. Saxobeat" won several awards and received nominations.[19][20] Stan also won the Best Romanian Act and was nominated for Best European Act at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards.[21][22] In November 2020, "Mr. Saxobeat" reached 200 million streams on Spotify, making it the most streamed song by a Romanian artist on the platform.[23]

After the success of "Mr. Saxobeat", Stan released the follow-up single "Get Back (ASAP)" (2011),[2] which achieved modest success, reaching the top 10 in Finland and Romania and the top 20 in other European countries.[21] The singer's debut studio album Saxobeats was released in August 2011;[24] it was moderately successful in Japan and Europe.[25][26] For Stan's international achievements in 2011, she won a European Border Breaker award.[27] Her chart success followed into 2012 with "Lemonade", which was certified Gold in Italy.[28] An alleged violent incident between Stan and Prodan and a resulting lawsuit which attracted widespread media coverage in Romania occurred in June 2013.[29] The singer was hospitalized with visible bruises and accused Prodan of blackmail, bodily harm, common assault and robbery.[30][31][32] While on a musical hiatus, the collaborative single "Baby, It's OK" with German group Follow Your Instinct was released in August 2013 and fared moderately well in German-speaking Europe.[33][34]

In April 2014, Stan released her comeback single "Thanks for Leaving", which she said was personal.[35][36] Several observers connected its lyrical message to her violent incident with Prodan.[37][38] The follow-up "Cherry Pop" became the most sought-after ringtone on the Recochoku service in Japan within two hours of its release,[39] and "Dance" experienced similar success on its release.[40] Unlocked, Stan's second studio album, was premiered in August 2014, and charted at number 21 in Japan.[41][42] Stan had also signed a new record deal with Fonogram Records.[43] Later in 2014, the singer performed Cher's "Strong Enough" (1999) translated into Catalan ("Sóc forta") for La Marato, an annual Spanish charity event,[44][45] and also appeared at the Spanish Carnival of Las Palmas as a special guest.[46]

In June 2015, Stan released "We Wanna", a collaboration with Romanian singer Inna and Puerto Rican reggaeton performer Daddy Yankee.[47] The track reached the top 60 in multiple countries including Romania, Argentina and Italy,[48] and was certified Gold in the latter region.[28] The follow-up, "I Did It, Mama!", reached the top ten in her native country.[49] Walt Disney approached Stan in the same year, and she was hired to be the voice of Inger in the Romanian version of Atlantis: Milo's Return.[50] The singer's third studio album Alesta was issued in March 2016,[51] and—supported by a tour in Japan[52]—debuted at number 34 on the Oricon albums chart.[42] Later that year, Stan made her fashion debut with a Japan-only range of clothing called Alesta X Bershka.[52] She also joined the supergroup G Girls along with Antonia, Inna and Lori for the single "Call the Police", which was successful in Poland,[53][54] and launched her own Alexandra Stan Records label.[4]

In 2017, Stan recorded "Favorite Game" for the soundtrack of the Japanese movie Miko Girl. The film premiered during the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2017, where Stan appeared on the red carpet with its cast and crew.[55][56] In April 2018, Stan released her fourth studio album, which is titled Mami,[57][58] and peaked at number 119 in Japan.[42] She also contributed guest vocals on Manuel Riva's track "Miami", which reached the top ten on the US Dance Club Songs chart; this was Stan's first appearance on an American Billboard ranking since 2011's "Mr. Saxobeat".[59] It also reached the top ten in Romania.[60] The singer opened the 2018 Neversea Festival, which had selected "Miami" as its anthem.[61][62]

In June 2019, following several months spent in the United States,[63] Stan released "I Think I Love It", her first single as a lead artist in over a year after "Mami" (2018).[64][65] She had desired to expand her music career to the aforementioned territory and also considered venturing into acting, but returned to Romania due to personal issues and her father's health condition.[11] Stan went on to sign record deals with Universal Music Romania and MediaPro Music,[5] and the release "Obsesii" attained success in Romania, reaching number 12 on the local Airplay 100 chart in June 2020.[66] From September to October 2020, the singer appeared as a contestant on reality singing competition Masked Singer România.[67] She also appeared on the second season of reality game show Survivor România in a bid to "discover herself",[68][11] but was soon evacuated for medical reasons.[69] Her fifth studio album, Rainbows, was first revealed in a September 2020 interview,[70] and eventually released on 29 April 2022.[71]