Inna

Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (born 16 October 1986), known professionally as Inna (stylized in all caps), is a Romanian singer.

Born in Mangalia and raised in Neptun, she studied political science at Ovidius University before meeting the Romanian trio Play & Win and pursuing a music career.

Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu was born on 16 October 1986 in Mangalia, Romania, to Giorgic and Maria Apostoleanu.

She was raised in Neptun, where her father worked as a sea rescuer and her mother as a dancer and singer.

As a child, Inna competed as a swimmer and became interested in football and basketball as well as music.

She listened to a variety of musical styles as a teenager, including electro house and europop, and to artists such as Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion and Whitney Houston.

Inna attended the sole, now dissolved, elementary school in Neptun.

Following this, the singer enrolled at Colegiul Economic (Economy College) in Mangalia, later studying political science at Ovidius University in Constanța.

She also took singing lessons and participated in music festivals.

An early foray into the music industry was an unsuccessful audition for the Romanian band A.S.I.A.

When Inna worked in an office, her manager heard her singing and contacted the production team Play & Win with whom she recorded several songs.

She adopted the stage name "Alessandra" and a pop-rock style in 2008; later that year, she changed her stage name to "Inna" and began releasing house music.

"Hot" (2008), her debut single, was a commercial success worldwide and topped the Romanian and Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart, among others.

Adopting the stage name Alessandra in 2008, she entered "Goodbye" and "Sorry" to represent Romania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2008; neither was selected.

The singer performed "Goodbye" live on the primetime TV show, Teo!, her first televised appearance.

Later that year, she changed her stage name to Inna since it was easy to memorize and was the name her grandfather called her when she was young.

Early in her career, Inna released pop-rock songs, but switched to "commercial" minimal-infused house music after changing her stage name.

In a News of the World interview, Inna cited Swedish House Mafia, the Black Eyed Peas and Jessie J as inspirations.

Others include Pink, Houston and Dion.

Inna's debut single, "Hot", was sent to Romanian radio stations in August 2008.

It topped the Romanian charts that winter, prompting her to be booked at Romanian nightclubs.

Her debut studio album of the same name followed in August 2009 and was certified Gold and Platinum.

It featured several other successful singles in Europe, including "Amazing" (2009), the singer's second number-one single in Romania.

Inna's second album, I Am the Club Rocker (2011), yielded global success for the single "Sun Is Up" (2010).

The track won the Eurodanceweb Award, making Inna the first and only Romanian artist to win the award.

In 2011, it was announced Inna was the highest-paid Romanian and Eastern European artist.

Her follow-up studio album, Party Never Ends (2013), was nominated for two consecutive years for Best Album at the Romanian Music Awards and reached the top ten in Mexico.

It featured "More than Friends", a moderate European hit in collaboration with Daddy Yankee.

In 2014, Inna signed with Atlantic Records and released the commercially successful "Cola Song" with J Balvin, which was used to promote that year's FIFA World Cup.

Inna's fourth and eponymous studio album was released in October 2015 and included "Diggy Down", her third number-one single in Romania.

Beginning in 2017, Inna has been a coach on the talent show Vocea României Junior alongside Andra and Marius Moga.

In the same year, she also released her fifth album Nirvana, whose singles found chart success in European countries such as Romania and Turkey.

She signed a record deal with Roc Nation in 2018 to release her sixth studio album Yo in May 2019.

Entirely envisioned by Inna, the Spanish-language effort marks a change in direction for her, as she approaches experimental and gypsy-influenced music styles.

Her first single outside the Yo era, "Bebe", reached number one in Romania in March 2020.

The singer also attained success in various Eastern European territories with "Flashbacks" (2021) and "Up" (2021), with the former being the lead single from her seventh studio album, Heartbreaker, released in November 2020.

Inna's eighth record, Champagne Problems, followed as a two-part release in January and March 2022.

With global album sales of four million copies from her first three studio albums, Inna is the best-selling Romanian artist.

She has received several awards and nominations, including the Balkan Music Awards, European Border Breakers Award, MTV Europe Music Awards and the Romanian Music Awards.

Inna is a human rights activist, participating in campaigns against domestic violence and in support of children's rights.