Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova. (born 27 August 1983), known professionally as Jamala,. is a Ukrainian singer. She represented and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with her song "

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

". In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 she served as a judge at ''

Vidbir (, ; meaning "National selection"), informally known as , is a Ukraine, Ukrainian musical competition originally organized by Suspilne and STB (TV channel), STB, which determines the Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest, Ukrainian representati ...

'', the Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In November 2023, Russia added Jamala to its wanted list.

Early life

Susana Dzhamaladinova was born in Osh, Kirghiz SSR, to a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Crimean Tatar father and an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

mother. Her Crimean Tatar ancestors were forcibly resettled from Crimea to the central Asian republic under

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, although her own relatives fought on the Soviet side. In 1989 her family returned to

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. Her maternal ancestors are Armenians from

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

region. They were well-to-do peasants until her great-grandfather's land was confiscated and he was exiled to Osh where he changed his Armenian name to make it sound more Russian. She grew up in a family of musicians — her mother worked as a teacher at a music school, and her father was a conductor by education. Her parents divorced for about four years so that her mother could purchase a house in Crimea for the family under her maiden name. During this period, Soviet authorities did not allow ethnic

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

, like her father, to purchase property in Crimea.

Career

2010–2015: Early work

Jamala has been fond of music since her early childhood. She made her first professional recording at the age of nine, singing 12 folk and children's Crimean Tatar songs. She entered the

Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

Music College and later graduated from Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine as an opera singer, but preferred a career in pop music. Jamala IFF2012

On 14 February 2010, she released her first single "You Are Made of Love" from her debut studio album '' For Every Heart''. She released "It's Me, Jamala" as the second single on 18 October 2010. On 23 November 2010, she released "Smile" as the third single from the album. Early in 2011, she participated on the national selection show in an attempt to represent at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

with the song "Smile". The song was a crowd favorite and Jamala herself managed to land a spot in the finals of the competition. However, she later decided to withdraw from the competition. On 12 April 2011, she released her debut studio album ''For Every Heart'' through Moon Records Ukraine. On 8 November 2012, she released "Ya Lyublyu Tebya" (, ) as the lead single from her second studio album ''All or Nothing''. She released "Hurt" as the second single, and "Kaktus" (, ) was released on 6 March 2013, as the third and final single from the album. She released '' All or Nothing'' on 19 March 2013, through Moon Records Ukraine. On 25 September 2014, she released "Zaplutalas" (, ) as the lead single from her debut EP '' Thank You''. The EP was released on 1 October 2014, through Enjoy Records. On 26 March 2015, "Ochyma" was released as the lead single from her third studio album. "Shlyakh dodomu" (, ) was released as the second single on 18 May 2015. On 15 June 2015, "Podykh" (, ) was released as the third single. She released her album '' Podykh'' on 12 October 2015, through Enjoy Records.

2016–present: Eurovision Song Contest and subsequent projects

Jamala successfully represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "1944". The song is about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 and particularly about her great-grandmother, who lost her daughter while being deported to

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. Jamala wrote the song's lyrics in 2014. In the second semi-final of the contest, Jamala performed 14th and was one of ten participants who qualified for the grand final. It was announced later that she placed second, scoring 287 points, and won the televoting with 152 points On 14 May 2016, Jamala won the competition with 534 points. Jamala's song was considered by Russian media and lawmakers to be critical of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the " ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine" in Donbas. After her Eurovision Song Contest victory, she was awarded the title People's Artist of Ukraine by then-Ukrainian president

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

. She has then continued to release new music, including "I Believe in U", which she performed at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song " 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) an ...

as an interval act, along with "Zamanyly". On 17 May 2016, Poroshenko announced that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry would be nominating Jamala as a

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status, and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and activists, advocates who are designated by the United Nations. The UNICEF, ...

. On 12 October 2018, Jamala released her fifth studio album, '' Kryla''. The title track was released as the first single on 21 March 2018. She had previously performed the track as the interval act for the 2018 Ukrainian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, ''Vidbir''. In 2022, she appeared in season 26 of the Polish TV show ''Taniec z Gwiazdami'' (''Dancing with the Stars''). Jamala performed "1944" during the flag parade in the final of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as , the winner of the with the song "Stefania (song), Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the eve ...

, alongside fellow past Ukrainian entrants Go_A, Tina Karol, and Verka Serduchka. One year later, she was the Ukrainian spokesperson at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2024 The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 was the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Tattoo (Loreen song), Tattoo" by Loreen. Organised by the European Br ...

Personal life

On 26 April 2017, Jamala married Bekir Suleimanov. Their relationship became known in September 2016, when she appeared with him at the Manhattan Short Film Festival. The couple married in the Kyiv Islamic Cultural Center using the traditional wedding ceremony

Nikah In Islamic law, marriage is accomplished through the marriage contract, known as a () or more specifically, the bride's acceptance of the groom's dowry (''mahr'') and the witnessing of her acceptance. The contract has rights and obligatio ...

. Suleimanov had recently graduated from the Physics and Mathematics Department of

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

and is an activist of the

Crimean Tatar community.Jamala married Seit-Bekir Suleymanov
, QHA (26 April 2017) In November 2017, Jamala announced that she and Suleimanov were expecting their first child together. On 27 March 2018 their son Emir-Rahman Seit-Bekir ogly Suleimanov was born. Jamala is fluent in Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, Russian and English. In February 2022, amidst the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, she and her two children left Ukraine and initially took refuge in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, before eventually landing in Turkey. After February 24, 2022, the celebrity participated in the GIDNA project from Future for Ukraine Charity Foundation. While reading the votes at the

, she announced that she was expecting her third child.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Remix albums

Extended plays

Singles

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamala Living people 1983 births English-language singers from Ukraine Russian-language singers of Ukraine People from Osh 21st-century Ukrainian women singers Kyrgyzstani women singers Kyrgyzstani people of Crimean Tatar descent Ukrainian pop singers Ukrainian women pop singers Ukrainian singer-songwriters Ukrainian women singer-songwriters Ukrainian sopranos Ukrainian people of Armenian descent Ukrainian people of Crimean Tatar descent Ukrainian Sunni Muslims Eurovision Song Contest winners Recipients of the title of People's Artists of Ukraine Crimean Tatar musicians Kyrgyzstani people of Armenian descent New Wave winners Ukrainian refugees Eurovision Song Contest-winning songwriters Ukrainian exiles of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation