Dilba

Dilba
Dilba performing at Liseberg, Gothenburg.
Background information
Birth name	Dilbahar Demirbag
Also known as	Dilba
Born	November 24, 1971
Origin	Elazığ, Turkey
Genres	R&B, pop, dance
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Piano, guitar, singing
Years active	1996 – present
Labels	Warner Bros. Records

Dilbahar Demirbag (born November 24, 1971), known as Dilba, is a Swedish pop singer of Kurdish 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.^[1] She immigrated to Sweden when she was only four years old, where she grew up in Karlstad and Uppsala. She has four siblings: Dilşa, Dilnarin, Dilber and Assan.

Dilba was introduced to the piano as early as when she went to kindergarten and is also self-taught in the guitar. She started her career as a DJ and she as 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. All the lyrics of the songs on this album were written by herself, just like the music. The album was a success, and she was awarded with a Grammy and the Aftonbladet 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 however not acclaimed by the critics and sold only in 20,000 copies.

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

Dilba participated in Melodifestivalen 2011, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. She competed in the first semi-final on 5 February 2011 in Coop Norrbotten Arena, Luleå 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 Digilitan's second place. An EP of Try Again also followed.

Personal

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. However, they still remain friends.

In July 2007 Dilba was detained from boarding a plane to the United States after joking that she had some planes to bomb.^[2]

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

1. http://www.dn.se/sthlm/allt-for-min-syster/
2. Singer: 'I had some planes to bomb', The Local, July 3, 2007