O-Zone
Encyclopedia
O-Zone was a Romania
/Moldova
n pop music
trio that was active from 1998 to 2005 and consisted of Dan Bălan
, Radu Sîrbu, and Arsenie Todiraş
. The group gained global popularity with their song "Dragostea din tei
" and their subsequent album DiscO-Zone
.
's "Love Me Tender
." Bălan and Arsenium would have proceeded as a duo act until Bălan received a call from Radu Sîrbu, who wanted a chance to audition for the group. Despite missing the auditions the first time around, Bălan agreed, and after a successful audition by Sîrbu, O-Zone officially became a trio.
to Romania
, hoping to gain more recognition. There, the group became an instant hit band with their upbeat song "Despre tine
" ("About you"), which held the top position on the Romanian Top 100
chart for three weeks in February 2003. Their second hit, which brought them worldwide attention, was "Dragostea din tei
", translated roughly as "Love in the Linden Tree." It quickly became popular in Romania, where it also topped the Romanian singles chart for four weeks in September 2003, but faded from popularity by the end of 2003. But the song gained popularity in Italy when the little-known duo Haiducii
released a cover of "Dragostea din tei", which topped the Italian pop charts. Arsenie Todiraş later said that at the time, while it was not illegal, the group's cover felt like a betrayal because Haiducii had not asked permission to make a cover. However, the cover's success led to curiosity about the original artist, and led to Time Records, an Italian recording house, offering O-Zone a one-year contract. Soon after the song's release in Italy, it was also released in various other countries in Europe under Polydor Records
and became an instant hit.
"Dragostea din tei" topped the singles charts of nearly a dozen European countries in 2004. It reached the top 10 in many other countries, including in the United Kingdom, where it reached the third position on the singles chart. The re-release of "Despre Tine
" in 2004 from the same album had similar success across Europe.
In contrast to their multi-platinum status in Europe, O-Zone never entered the Billboard Hot 100
singles chart in the United States, although it did reach the 14th position on the Hot Dance Airplay
chart. The viral video Numa Numa Dance helped to slightly boost awareness of "Dragostea din tei" in the United States, but while the song received moderate to major airplay, most Americans knew it simply as the "Numa Numa Song" and never knew the name of the original song or the group that performed it. "Dragostea din tei" was sampled in the song "Live Your Life
" by T.I.
and Rihanna
, which topped the Billboard Hot 100
in late 2008.
Also in 2005, the Japanese music label Avex Trax
gained distribution rights for O-Zone music in Japan, and released the album DiscO-Zone
in August 2005 in that country. The album, which features the song "Dragostea din tei", became immensely successful in Japan. Topping the Oricon
albums charts, it reached over 800,000 in sales in 2005 alone and became the 12th most popular album of 2005. Partially because the album was re-released twice by Avex Trax, DiscO-Zone charted for over a year on the Oricon weekly albums chart and sold over one million copies overall.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
/Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
n pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
trio that was active from 1998 to 2005 and consisted of Dan Bălan
Dan Balan
Dan Mihai Bălan is a Moldavian singer, songwriter, and producer. He was born to Mihai Bălan and Ludmila Bălan, a TV presenter. Dan Bălan has performed eurodance and commercially pop music...
, Radu Sîrbu, and Arsenie Todiraş
Arsenie Todiras
Arsenie Todiraş is a Moldovan singer who was the youngest member of the former boyband O-Zone...
. The group gained global popularity with their song "Dragostea din tei
Dragostea din tei
"Dragostea din tei" , also informally known as "The Numa Numa Song" , is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004...
" and their subsequent album DiscO-Zone
DiscO-Zone
DiscO-Zone is the third and final album that was produced and released by the Moldovan band O-Zone. It was first released on June 6, 2004 in multiple countries throughout Europe under the label Polydor Records...
.
1998–2001: Formation and early years
O-Zone was formed as a duo of Dan Bălan and Petru Jelihovschi in 1998. They released their first album, Dar, unde eşti..., in 1999. However, Jelihovschi had not intended to make music his career, so he split from Bălan. Undaunted, Bălan held open auditions for new band members. At one such audition, he met Arsenie "Arsenium" Todiraş, who eventually won over the initially skeptical Bălan with his version of Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's "Love Me Tender
Love Me Tender (song)
"Love Me Tender" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music, adapted from the tune of "Aura Lee" , a sentimental Civil War ballad.- History :...
." Bălan and Arsenium would have proceeded as a duo act until Bălan received a call from Radu Sîrbu, who wanted a chance to audition for the group. Despite missing the auditions the first time around, Bălan agreed, and after a successful audition by Sîrbu, O-Zone officially became a trio.
2002–2004: Rise to success
In 2002, O-Zone moved from ChişinăuChisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, hoping to gain more recognition. There, the group became an instant hit band with their upbeat song "Despre tine
Despre Tine
"Despre tine" is the third single release from O-Zone's second album Number 1, and came back in their last album, DiscO-Zone. Following up their 2004 summer hit "Dragostea din tei", "Despre tine" proved to be a smaller hit than its predecessor, but a big enough one to make number one in several...
" ("About you"), which held the top position on the Romanian Top 100
Romanian Top 100
The Romanian Top 100 is the national airplay-based singles chart of Romania. It is weekly and it started running in 1996. It is recognized as an official chart by the European division of Billboard, Music & Media....
chart for three weeks in February 2003. Their second hit, which brought them worldwide attention, was "Dragostea din tei
Dragostea din tei
"Dragostea din tei" , also informally known as "The Numa Numa Song" , is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004...
", translated roughly as "Love in the Linden Tree." It quickly became popular in Romania, where it also topped the Romanian singles chart for four weeks in September 2003, but faded from popularity by the end of 2003. But the song gained popularity in Italy when the little-known duo Haiducii
Haiducii
- Life :Mitrache was born in Bucharest, Romania. After winning the title of Miss Bucharest, she became a singer, model, and actress. She sings in Romanian, in English and in Russian. She participated as the international host of the Festival di Sanremo 2004, and of "Stasera pago io revolution" of...
released a cover of "Dragostea din tei", which topped the Italian pop charts. Arsenie Todiraş later said that at the time, while it was not illegal, the group's cover felt like a betrayal because Haiducii had not asked permission to make a cover. However, the cover's success led to curiosity about the original artist, and led to Time Records, an Italian recording house, offering O-Zone a one-year contract. Soon after the song's release in Italy, it was also released in various other countries in Europe under Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
and became an instant hit.
"Dragostea din tei" topped the singles charts of nearly a dozen European countries in 2004. It reached the top 10 in many other countries, including in the United Kingdom, where it reached the third position on the singles chart. The re-release of "Despre Tine
Despre Tine
"Despre tine" is the third single release from O-Zone's second album Number 1, and came back in their last album, DiscO-Zone. Following up their 2004 summer hit "Dragostea din tei", "Despre tine" proved to be a smaller hit than its predecessor, but a big enough one to make number one in several...
" in 2004 from the same album had similar success across Europe.
In contrast to their multi-platinum status in Europe, O-Zone never entered the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles chart in the United States, although it did reach the 14th position on the Hot Dance Airplay
Hot Dance Airplay
Dance/Mix Show Airplay is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is featured weekly in Billboard magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance music on the radio in the United States and the stations that program it...
chart. The viral video Numa Numa Dance helped to slightly boost awareness of "Dragostea din tei" in the United States, but while the song received moderate to major airplay, most Americans knew it simply as the "Numa Numa Song" and never knew the name of the original song or the group that performed it. "Dragostea din tei" was sampled in the song "Live Your Life
Live Your Life
"Live Your Life" is a song by American rapper T.I., and the third single, from his sixth studio album Paper Trail. It was released as the third single from the album on September 23, 2008. The song features Barbadian pop singer Rihanna, and was produced by Just Blaze and Canei Finch. It officially...
" by T.I.
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
and Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
, which topped the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in late 2008.
2005–2006: Disbandment and Japanese success
On January 13, 2005, while still very popular, the members of O-Zone announced their disbandment, citing personal reasons. Their last European concert was held at the 2005 Golden Deer music festival in Romania.Also in 2005, the Japanese music label Avex Trax
Avex Trax
, listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange as 7860 and abbreviated as AGHD, is the holding company for a group of entertainment-related subsidiaries based in Japan...
gained distribution rights for O-Zone music in Japan, and released the album DiscO-Zone
DiscO-Zone
DiscO-Zone is the third and final album that was produced and released by the Moldovan band O-Zone. It was first released on June 6, 2004 in multiple countries throughout Europe under the label Polydor Records...
in August 2005 in that country. The album, which features the song "Dragostea din tei", became immensely successful in Japan. Topping the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
albums charts, it reached over 800,000 in sales in 2005 alone and became the 12th most popular album of 2005. Partially because the album was re-released twice by Avex Trax, DiscO-Zone charted for over a year on the Oricon weekly albums chart and sold over one million copies overall.
Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
DE Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
FIN Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
FRA Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
JA Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
NL MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
POL Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... |
POR Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
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| 1999 | Dar, unde eşti...
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2002 | Number 1
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2004 | DiscO-Zone DiscO-Zone DiscO-Zone is the third and final album that was produced and released by the Moldovan band O-Zone. It was first released on June 6, 2004 in multiple countries throughout Europe under the label Polydor Records... Polydor Records Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone... Digital distribution Online distribution, digital distribution, or electronic software distribution is the practice of delivering content without the use of physical media, typically by downloading via the internet directly to a consumer's device. Online distribution bypasses conventional physical distribution media,... |
15 | 9 | 3 | 15 | 16 | 1 | 41 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7 | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
B/FL Flanders Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp... |
B/WA |
DE Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
EU |
FIN Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
FRA Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
IRL Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
ITA Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
NL MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
NOR VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
RO Romanian Top 100 The Romanian Top 100 is the national airplay-based singles chart of Romania. It is weekly and it started running in 1996. It is recognized as an official chart by the European division of Billboard, Music & Media.... |
SP Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
SWE Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
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| 2002 | "Numai tu" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ? | — | — | — | — | |
| "Despre tine Despre Tine "Despre tine" is the third single release from O-Zone's second album Number 1, and came back in their last album, DiscO-Zone. Following up their 2004 summer hit "Dragostea din tei", "Despre tine" proved to be a smaller hit than its predecessor, but a big enough one to make number one in several... " |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004 | "Dragostea din tei Dragostea din tei "Dragostea din tei" , also informally known as "The Numa Numa Song" , is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004... " |
1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2004 | "Despre tine" (re-release) | 4 | 35 | 9 | 4 | ? | 14 | 2 | 9 | — | 8 | 27 | 1 | — | 19 | 7 | 9 | — | |
| "De ce plang chitarele" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||
Other singles
| Year | Single | JA Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Peak positions |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Koi no Maiahi Dragostea din tei "Dragostea din tei" , also informally known as "The Numa Numa Song" , is the most successful single by the Moldovan pop group O-Zone, sung in Romanian. It shot to the number one spot on the Eurochart Hot 100, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004... " |
72 | |
| "—" denotes releases that were not released in that territory. | |||