Dilbahar Demirbağ (born 24 November 1971), known as Dilba, is a Swedish pop singer of

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

background. Her first album ''Dilba'' (1996) reached commercial success.

Early life

Dilba was born in Kirvan, a village in eastern Turkey, and her family is ethnic Kurd. She immigrated to Sweden when she was only four years old, where she grew up in

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

and

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. She has four siblings: Dilşa, Dilnarin, Dilber and Assan. Dilba was introduced to the piano as early as when she went to

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

and is also

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

in the guitar. She started her career as a DJ and she has also worked as a backup singer for the Swedish pop singers Jennifer Brown and Eric Gadd.

Recording career

In 1996, Dilba released her debut album ''Dilba'' together with the single ''I'm Sorry''. She wrote all the songs by herself. The album was a success, and she was awarded with a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

and the

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

prize Rockbjörnen. The album sold more than 100,000 copies in Sweden. After a successful summer tour in 1997, it took two years until she released her second album ''You & I'' in 1999. It was rewarded with a "five plus" accolade by

and overall acclaim by critics; the disc sold over 20,000 copies in Sweden, reaching gold certification. Dilba's third album ''Revolution'' was released in March 2003, along with the single ''Every Little Thing'', which was a success on the radio. In 2005, Dilba composed the song ''Miracle'', which became the theme score for the

Swedish television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

's TV-series '' Kommissionen''. Also, during the autumn of 2005, Dilba had regular live performances at a club in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Dilba participated in Melodifestivalen 2011, the Swedish selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...

. She competed in the first semi-final on 5 February 2011 at Coop Norrbotten Arena,

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with the song ''" Try Again"'' (Pettersson/Sonnvik) but she did not qualify for the next round. The song however became an instant hit, went straight to iTunes number one and Digilistan's second place. An EP of "Try Again" also followed.

Personal life

In 1998, Dilba met pop singer Martin Svensson at a party, and they later married in the summer of 2000. A divorce was filed in 2002. In July 2007, Dilba was detained from boarding a plane to the United States after joking that she had some planes to bomb.Singer: 'I had some planes to bomb'
The Local, July 3, 2007 Dilba also starred in Let's Dance 2008, but was voted off the show. Her sisters are dancer Dilnarin Demirbag and journalist Dilsa Demirbag-Sten.

Discography

* ''Dilba'' (1996) * ''You & I'' (1999) * ''Live at Lydmar'' (2002) * ''Revolution'' (2003)

References

{{Authority control 1971 births Living people Swedish pop singers Swedish women pop singers 20th-century Swedish songwriters Swedish people of Kurdish descent Turkish Kurdish people 21st-century Swedish singers 21st-century Swedish women singers 21st-century Swedish songwriters