Inna

For Inna's 2015 self-titled album, see Inna (album). For other uses, see Inna (disambiguation).

Inna
Inna performing in the Netherlands, April 2011
Born	Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (1986-10-16) 16 October 1986
Other names	Queen of Dance
Citizenship	Romanian
Education	Ovidius University
Occupations	Singer dancer philanthropist
Years active	2009–present
Musical career
Genres	Eurodance EDM Electro house Progressive house Deep house Hi-NRG
Labels	Roton Atlantic Warner Universal Ultra Spinnin' AATW
Website	Official site InnaRomania's channel on YouTube

Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu (born 16 October 1986), professionally known as Inna (stylized as INNA), is a Romanian singer, dancer and philanthropist. She rose to major fame in 2009, when her debut studio album Hot was an international success, appearing in many record charts around the world and reaching the top-ten in Czech Republic, France and the United Kingdom. The album's lead single of the same name charted worldwide, topping the US Hot Dance Airplay in 2009. Furthermore, it became Gold or Platinum in Spain, Norway, and Italy. The song won the award for the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Romanian Act at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony. "Déjà Vu" and "Amazing", the record's next released singles, achieved each commercial success and heavy airplay in more European countries. Subsequently, they reached top-ten peak positions on the French Singles Chart and were included in the list of the best-selling songs of 2010 in France.

I Am the Club Rocker (2011), Inna's sophomore record, was again produced by native trio Play&Win and received the Romanian-Album-of-the-Year-award from her label Roton. Furthermore, it achieved Gold status in Romania and Poland. The first release called "Sun Is Up" was one of her most successful singles in her career, selling 125,000 copies in France and 2 million copies worldwide. "Sun Is Up" subsequently achieved three nominations at the 2011 Romanian Music Awards and won the Eurodanceweb Award that year. Both Flo Rida and Juan Magan are featured on I Am The Club Rocker on "Club Rocker" and "Un Momento", respectively. The latter one rose to fame, as it charted at No.4 on the Lebanese Top 20 and within the top-twenty in Romania, Slovakia, Austria and Poland.

Her third studio album Party Never Ends (2013) failed to achieve the same success of its predecessors, with its highest charting position being the No.10 spot on the Mexican Albums Chart. However, the record produced some successful collaborations between her and international artists like Daddy Yankee and Yandel. Subsequently, Inna began working on her fourth overall full-length record. "Cola Song" was released then as the first single from the album. While it features J Balvin, it became a massive hit throughout Europe and was certified Platinum by PROMUSICAE. Inna announced via Facebook that her self-titled studio album would premiere on 15 September 2015. Particularly, a re-edited version of the album, titled Body And The Sun, was released to Japanese retailers on 31 July 2015.

Inna's portofolio includes numerous awards, such as two MTV Europe Music Awards and over thirteen awards in three consecutive years at the MTV Romania Music Awards. In May 2011, it was reported that Inna has already sold one million records worldwide, including 100,000 albums and over 600,000 singles in the United Kingdom. At the end of 2011 Inna became the richest recording artist in Romania and in Eastern Europe. Her net worth is over 10 million euros. As of March 2016, she has sold over 4 million copies of her first three studio albums.

Life and career

1986–2007: Early life and career beginnings

Mangalia, Romania, where Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu was born.

Play & Win, the producing trio that discovered Inna

Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu was born on 16 October 1986 in the resort of Neptun, Romania, near Mangalia on the Black Sea. Her grandmother and mother were both occasional singers at local parties or night clubs. When she was a teenager, Inna listened to a large variety of musical genres including electro house and europop. However, she also used to listen to Beyoncé, Celine Dion or Whitney Houston. She went to the Mangalia Economical Lyceum high school in Mangalia, since renamed "Colegiul Economic Mangalia" — Mangalia Economy College. After graduating the high school, she studied Political science at the Ovidius University in Constanţa, Romania. After Inna unsuccessfully attended the auditions for Romanian band A.S.I.A, she took a job as a sales assistant in a shop in Neptun, selling slippers. In 2007, the producer and Play & Win-member Marcel Botezan heard Inna singing in a supermarket and offered her a contract with Roton Records. At the end of 2007, Inna signed a contract with Romanian producers Play & Win and started recording her first tracks. Subsequently, she took the stage name "Alessandra" in 2008 and entered two songs produced by Play & Win for the selection to represent Romania in the Eurovision Song Contest. However, neither ("Goodbye" and "Sorry") was selected. The latter one was later performed live on the primetime TV show "Teo!" in March 2008, and "Sorry" became a viral hit within a couple of months in Romania. After the unsuccessful attempt, the producing trio and Alessandra chose to move from a pop ballad style to house music. Thus, Inna recorded some new tracks including a demo for "Hot" and "Left Right". When interviewed about the choice of "Inna" as her stage name, she revealed that her late grandfather lovingly called her this way.

2008–10: Hot era

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Inna receiving her MTV Europe Music Awards award for the Best Romanian act in 2009

Inna's debut single "Hot" was produced by Romanian dance music trio Play & Win and sent to Romanian radio stations on 12 November 2008. The single performed strongly on the Romanian Top 100, peaking at No.5 in the winter of 2008. Furthermore, it initially became an airplay success in the Balkan countries and then a success across Europe and the Middle East. While demos to unreleased singles like "Left Right" or "O, ce veste minunată!" began to leak on the internet, Inna was booked to perform in Romanian clubs such as the Club Turabo in Bucharest. In early 2009, "Hot" entered the Spanish Singles Chart and the Hungarian Dance Chart, receiving airplay in Poland, Ukraine and Turkey. "Hot" was certified Platinum by PROMUSICAE for selling 40,000 units in Spain. In early 2010, Inna reached an overwhelming chart success with "Hot", peaking at No.1 on the U.S. Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart. Both Inna and U.S. singer Ke$ha became the first artists on this chart to swap each other's No.1 chart positions with debut singles, with Inna's "Hot" succeeding Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" and then having the latter return the favor.

"Love" was announced to be Inna's second single. It was released on 12 March 2009 and peaked at No.4 on the Romanian Top 100 in April 2009, surpassing the achievements of her previous release. Subsequently, she received the first award nominations of her career during the 2009 Eska Music Awards held in Poland. After failing to win the award, she signed a contract with the American record label Ultra Records on 15 April 2009. On 12 May 2009, Inna was nominated four times at the Romanian Music Awards in the categories "Best Dance", "Best Debut", "Best Show" and "Best Borderbreaker". The awards ceremony was held on 6 June 2009 in Craiova and Inna won all the awards she was nominated for. At the end of May 2009, on Antena 1's main news program, Inna unveiled information about her upcoming album, entitled Hot.

Inna performing at the Sopot International Song Festival in August 2009

In the spring of 2009, Inna collaborated with Romanian DJ and producer Bob Taylor for the release of "Déjà Vu". Subsequently, they decided to send the record under pseudonyms, so Inna's name was put backwards to "Anni". After reaching the top-ten in their native country, they confirmed that they were the performers of the song. Furthermore, "Déjà Vu" became a major hit in Moldova, Bulgaria, Russia and Hungary, and sold 15,400 registered copies in France. At the end of June, Inna won a special award accorded by the jury for her top-five hit "Love" during the "Romanian Top Hits Award" ceremony. In November 2009, "Déjà Vu" debuted on the Single Top 100 in Netherlands at number seventy-two and peaked at No.9 in January 2010. In Belgium, the song charted within the top-ten and twenty of the Wallonian and Flemish Singles Chart, respectively. Particularly, it peaked in the top-ten in France and out of the top-forty in the United Kingdom.

Inna released her fourth overall single "Amazing" on 6 August 2009. It was written and produced by Play & Win early 2009 for Romanian singer Anca Baidu. However, the dance music trio thought that Inna would make a "better version" of the it, so they gave it to her. After the premiere of Inna's version, Anca Badiu particularly complained that Play & Win had stolen her track. Particularly, Radu Bolfea (member of Play & Win) expressed that they chose Inna to re-record the song because they knew that Baidu's version would't became a hit. Subsequently, Inna's version became, together with her 2014 single "Diggy Down", her most successful single in her homecountry, reaching No.1 on the Romanian Top 100. At the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 held in Berlin, Germany, Inna won the award for the Best Romanian Act. However, she did not make the shortlist for the Best European Act. Inna was named the "Woman of The Year" during the "Young Talents Awards".

To support the Romanian release of her debut album Hot in March 2010, Inna released its fifth single "10 Minutes" to Romanian radio stations on 23 January 2010. The release reached number eighteen in her homecountry, but missed the top-ten in Bulgaria and Russia. "10 Minutes" peaked at No.8 in France, becoming Inna's fourth consecutive top-ten debut there. For the single's worldwide release, a video was hot by British director Paul Boyd in London, United Kingdom. Boyd previously worked with Shania Twain and Mariah Carey. Meanwhile, her debut full-length record entered the top-ten of the French Albums Chart, peaking at number nine. It went Platinum in France and Gold in Romania and the Netherlands. A deluxe version of the album was released in France and Spain, with the French version being entitled "Very Hot".

2011–12: I Am the Club Rocker era

Inna in Cannes, France, at the NRJ Music Awards ceremony in January 2011.

At the 2010 Romanian Music Awards, Inna won the awards for Best Female, Best Album, Best Show, Best Web Site and Best International Artist. Furthermore, she also presented a brand new song entitled "Sun Is Up". The track was then sent to Romanian radio stations in June 2010 and premiered on Kiss FM. It quickly became a hit in her home country, reaching the second spot on the native Romanian Top 100 in November 2010. "Sun Is Up", managed to peak at No.1 in Bulgaria and in the Romandie region of Switzerland, while also being a top ten in France, Romania, Russia and the UK Dance Chart. It was certified Gold in both Switzerland and Italy. An accompanying music video was shot by Alex Herron in Marbella, Spain on 24 August 2010. He previously worked with Taio Cruz, Ke$ha ("Dirty Picture") and Basshunter ("Saturday"). The clip premiered on 30 September 2010 on Inna's official website. Particularly, Inna won for the second time in a row the regional voting in the run-up of the MTV Europe Music Awards 2010, receiving the award for Best Romanian Act. Thus, she became one of the five regional winners to have the chance to win the Best European Act award at the main show on 7 November 2010. She competed with Afromental from Poland, Dima Bilan from Russia, Enrique Iglesias from Spain and Marco Mengoni from Italy, but lost to the Italian representative. In December 2010, she was awarded for her rising career during the "Zece Pentru Romania" awards held by Realitatea TV along with Paula Seling, Ovi, Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina. "Sun Is Up" won the Eurodanceweb Award 2010. and subsequently, the singer was nominated for the "International Revelation of the Year" category at the NRJ Music Awards along with Justin Bieber, Ke$ha and Taio Cruz, but lost to Bieber.

Inna released her second studio album I Am the Club Rocker on 26 August 2011 to Mexican digital retrailers. It contains the singles "Sun Is Up", "Club Rocker", and "Un Momento", along with the previously released promotional songs "Señorita" and "Moon Girl". The album reached the top twenty in Czech Republic and Belgium. Furthermore, it went to be a top-forty in France. It was more successful in Poland, where it was certified Gold after its three-weeks release. The full-length record was a real hit in Mexico. It debuted at No.8 on the chart and spent numerous weeks within the top-forty. In late January 2011, it was announced that Inna was nominated for the second time at the "Successful Women Awards", along with Paula Seling, Luminiţa Anghel, and Analia Selis. She was also named the third "Best Female Voice" by the Romanian public, only after Paula Seling and Andra. In early 2011, she embarked on her first official tour throughout France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco and Romania. The concert tour visited nine French cities, two Spanish cities and, for the first time in a major venue, Bucharest. Particularly, Inna bought a $250,000 penthouse near Paris. In 2011, Inna was promoted in the United States more than in previous years via Ultra Records, with will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas wishing Inna good luck in the American music business.

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Inna performing during the 2011 Romanian Music Awards in Brasov, Romania

The second release of "I Am the Club Rocker" premiered on 17 May 2011 during Inna's Romanian gig. Entitled "Club Rocker", it was a moderate hit in Europe. It became Inna's first song to miss the top ten in France as it peaked at number thirty-two, while also her first song to miss the top-twenty in her native Romania, thus completely missing the top forty there. It was more successful in Slovakia and Poland, where it reached the top-twenty. Subsequently, it was announced that Inna received a total of four nominations at the RRA Awards 2011 at the categories "Artist of the Year" (along with Mădălina Manole, Paula Seling, and Ovidiu Cernăuţeanu) and "Dance Artist of the Year". She was also nominated for the "Album of the Year" (with Hot) and "Best Pop/Dance Song" (with "Sun is Up"). She was eventually nominated for the "Best Female Act" and "Best Romanian Song" at the Balkan Music Awards, taking both of the trophies. Late 2014, Spanish singer Robert Ramirez Carrascco asked the Romanian law to force Inna to pay 271,000 euros because he believed that she took the main melody of his "A Minute Of Life". Subsequently, the law announced that the song was cleared of plagiarism.

"Un Momento", a collaboration with Spanish reggaeton singer Juan Magan, became Inna's next single and her highest-charting single in Slovakia when it peaked at No.4 on the Airplay Chart. It barely missed the top-ten in Romania, reaching No.12. The following release off the album was "Endless", which became "I Am the Club Rocker" 's highest charting single in Romania, peaking at No.5 on the native Romanian Top 100. The fifth and last single "WOW" premiered on 6 April 2012. Its accompanying music video was directed by Edward Aninaru in Bucharest, Romania. After debuting on the Romanian Top 100, "WOW" quickly rose up the chart and peaked at No.10 in June 2012. In December 2011, Inna was offered to star in an upcoming French movie, but she turned the offer down because the role she had to play involved nudity. During a Great Union Day interview with Cătălin Măruţă, Inna stated that she will tour the United States during the first half of 2012 and will then release a third studio album. The tour "I Am the Club Rocker Tour" kicked off in January 2012 in Belgrade, Serbia. On 9 January 2012, she released a remixed cover to the song "Ai se eu te pego!" by Brazilian artist Michel Teló. Subsequently, the Romanian Television (SRTV) approached Inna and would have changed their rules for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 so that Inna was the Romanian representative, but she turned the offer down because of her "I Am the Club Rocker" tour. As of February 2012, Inna's YouTube channel surpassed one billion total views.

2012–14: Party Never Ends era

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Inna at a press conference in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2012

Shortly after launching the song "WOW", Inna released a new single called "Caliente" (Spanish for Hot). In an interview with Hit Channel Greece, Inna expressed that the song is dedicated to her Mexican fans. It became simultaneously her first song she wrote alone. In the first half of 2012, Inna released lyric videos on her YouTube account for new songs entitled "OK", "Alright" and "INNdiA". They were confirmed as promotional singles for her upcoming studio album. After releasing a music video for "Caliente", the song debuted on the Airplay 100 at number ninety-three, becoming Inna's twelfth entry on the chart since she started her career in 2008. It performed poorly, reaching its peak-position at number eighty-four.

Meanwhile, Inna released Romanian language song "Tu şi Eu" as her next single. It quickly became a radio success in her native country and charted at No.18 on the Romanian Radio Airplay Chart without having an official music video released. After the launching of its well-received clip, "Tu şi Eu" became popular in Romania and peaked first at No.11 and then at No.5.

Her Play & Win-collaboration on the song "INNdiA" became her thirteenth chart entry in Romania, debuting at number ninety-three on 5 August 2012. It fell off the chart on the following week, but re-entered it on 26 August 2012 at number eighty-four. The song reached No.10 on the chart, becoming her ninth top ten single in her native country. Late October, Inna released a radio version of her 2007-recording "Oare". It was sent to mainstream radios in Romania, but failed to chart on the Romanian Radio Airplay Chart. Later that month, another lyric video was released for a new promotional song called "J'Adore" (French for "I Adore"). In the video, Inna is working out and stretching wearing a mutilated bodysuit. On 11 November 2012 it was announced that Inna will perform for the New Year's Eve atelier/festival held at the Meydan Racecourse in Dubai (31 December 2012 – 1 January 2013).

Inna during the Barbarella 2013 festival in the Dominican Republic

Inna announced via Twitter that her third studio album will be called Party Never Ends. Subsequently, the release of four promotional singles was confirmed: "World of Love", "In Your Eyes", "Dame tu Amor", and "More than Friends", with the latter two featuring Mexican band Reik and Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, respectively. Furthermore, all of the singles previously released were to be included in the album. On 18 January 2013, Inna released two versions of her new single, "More Than Friends", onto her YouTube channel. The first version features Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee singing and rapping during certain parts of the song. "More Than Friends" went to be a major hit in Europe, reaching No.1 in Poland, No.5 in Slovakia, No.7 in Spain and the top-twenty in Romania. Furthermore, the song charted within the Top-100 in Finland, Italy and France.

In March 2013, Inna was the guest singer on "P.O.H.U.I." by Moldavian music project Carla's Dreams. The song became a huge radio hit and one of her most successful singles in her native Romania as it peaked at No.3. Her next single from Party Never Ends called "Be My Lover" contains a sample from the song with the same name originally performed by La Bouche in 1995. Featuring mostly influences of dubstep, its music video was released on 11 July 2013. Although described as a highlight on the album, "Be My Lover" failed to appear on any international charts. However, it was a club hit in Belgium and Poland, where it charted high on the dance charts. Simultaneously "Dame tu Amor", featuring vocals by Mexican-Latin pop band Reik, was released for the Mexican market.

The Steve Mac produced album opener "In Your Eyes" was released as the third international single from Inna's third full-length record. After two teasers of the song premiered on Inna's official YouTube account, its official music video premiered on Inna's birthday (16 October 2013) with a surprise feature by Puerto Rican reggaeton rapper Yandel. The single debuted at number seventy-eight on the native Airplay 100 on 3 November 2013 and reached its peak position at number forty-four on 8 December 2013. Furthermore, "In Your Eyes" reached the top-forty on the Spanish Singles Chart and the Polish Dance Top 50. In 2014, Inna was the guest singer for Pitbull's "All the Things" for his EP Meltdown.

Inna performing during the VIVA Comet 2014 gig in Hungary.

Inna confirmed that "Cola Song" would premiere alongside its music video on 14 April 2014 as a featuring with Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin and as the first release from her upcoming studio album called LatINNA at that time. After the launching process of the song, Inna particularly explained in an interview with Directlyrics that she knew "Cola Song" would be the perfect opportunity to work with J Balvin. Furthermore, she also confessed that she listens to his music every time she travels to Latin America. "Cola Song" samples the saxophone-instrumental from Andreas Schuller's "Piñata 2014", on which Inna was the guest singer. The single became a huge hit throughout Europe, making the Top 20 in Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Finland. It reached No.8 on the Spanish Singles Chart, where it became her third most successful single, and number seventy-seven on the German Singles Chart, her fist entry there since her 2011 song "Club Rocker". Early 2015, "Cola Song" was certified Platinum by PROMUSICAE for selling 40,000 registered copies in Spain. Furthermore, the track was added to the soundtrack of 2015 American comedy film "Spy". Meanwhile, Romanian rapper Puya collaboarted Inna on his single "Strigă!", whose accompanying music video premiered on 27 June 2014. The single reached No.2 on the native Airplay 100, becoming her eleventh top ten single in her native country and the most successful one since "Sun Is Up", which also reached the second spot of the chart. In August 2014, Inna collaborated with Romanian singers Dara, Antonia and Carla's Dreams for the song "Fie ce-o fi", which became a moderate success on the Romanian Radio Airplay Chart, reaching only number fifty-five.

"Good Time", Inna's next single, was firstly promoted by a lyrics video released on 2 July 2014. Being a featuring with American rapper Pitbull, with whom she already collaborated on his track "All The Things", the song's accompanying music video premiered on 29 July 2014. "Good Time" went to be a moderate success in Belgium, where it performed major on different dance charts, such as the Ultratop 50 Dance, where it charted at number forty-one. Furthermore, it "bubbled" under the official Belgian Singles Chart at No.30. "Good Time" performed weak in native Romania and only reached number sixty-seven on the Airplay 100. It appears on the soundtrack of American movie "Pitch Perfect 2" and TV series "Young and Hungry". Inna announced the launching of an extended play called Summer Days in the fall of 2014, from which she released six promotional singles: "Take Me Higher", "Low", "Devil's Paradise", "Tell Me", "Body and the Sun" and "Summer Days".

In October 14, 2014 Cola Song, Good Time and Take Me Higher became part of the tracklist for US edition of PARTY NEVER ENDS

2014–2015: INNA era

Inna performing during the VIVA Comet 2014 gig in Hungary.

Inna confirmed that "Cola Song" would premiere alongside its music video on 14 April 2014 as a featuring with Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin and as the first release from her upcoming studio album called LatINNA at that time. After the launching process of the song, Inna particularly explained in an interview with Directlyrics that she knew "Cola Song" would be the perfect opportunity to work with J Balvin. Furthermore, she also confessed that she listens to his music every time she travels to Latin America. "Cola Song" samples the saxophone-instrumental from Andreas Schuller's "Piñata 2014", on which Inna was the guest singer. The single became a huge hit throughout Europe, making the Top 20 in Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Finland. It reached No.8 on the Spanish Singles Chart, where it became her third most successful single, and number seventy-seven on the German Singles Chart, her fist entry there since her 2011 song "Club Rocker". Early 2015, "Cola Song" was certified Platinum by PROMUSICAE for selling 40,000 registered copies in Spain. Furthermore, the track was added to the soundtrack of 2015 American comedy film "Spy". Meanwhile, Romanian rapper Puya collaboarted Inna on his single "Strigă!", whose accompanying music video premiered on 27 June 2014. The single reached No.2 on the native Airplay 100, becoming her eleventh top ten single in her native country and the most successful one since "Sun Is Up", which also reached the second spot of the chart. In August 2014, Inna collaborated with Romanian singers Dara, Antonia and Carla's Dreams for the song "Fie ce-o fi", which became a moderate success on the Romanian Radio Airplay Chart, reaching only number fifty-five.

"Good Time", Inna's next single, was firstly promoted by a lyrics video released on 2 July 2014. Being a featuring with American rapper Pitbull, with whom she already collaborated on his track "All The Things", the song's accompanying music video premiered on 29 July 2014. "Good Time" went to be a moderate success in Belgium, where it performed major on different dance charts, such as the Ultratop 50 Dance, where it charted at number forty-one. Furthermore, it "bubbled" under the official Belgian Singles Chart at No.30. "Good Time" performed weak in native Romania and only reached number sixty-seven on the Airplay 100. It appears on the soundtrack of American movie "Pitch Perfect 2" and TV series "Young and Hungry". Inna promoted a new promotional single called "Fata din rândul trei" and sent it to Romanian radio stations on 16 October 2014. It is a Romanian language song in the style of her previously released compositions "Oare", "Tu şi eu" and "Spre mare". "Fata din rândul trei" peaked at number thirty-three on the Romanian Radio Airplay Chart on 14 December 2014. Inna announced the launching of an extended play called Summer Days in the fall of 2014, from which she released six promotional singles: "Take Me Higher", "Low", "Devil's Paradise", "Tell Me", "Body and the Sun" and "Summer Days". Subsequently, she confessed that her upcoming studio album would be perhaps called LatINNA, because she "feels Latinna" (Latina) and has had notable success in Spanish-speaking Latin-origin territories. LatINNA was not released, but instead, on 7 June 2015 she announced the release of INNA, for which she used the songs from her previous projects. Since the EP Summer Days was never released, all tracks with the exception of "Summer Days" became part of the tracklist for INNA.

After Inna teased a new recording entitled "Diggy Down", a lyric video for the song was released on 25 November 2015 onto Inna's YouTube channel. The official music video premiered officially on 3 December 2014. "Diggy Down" samples the saxophone riff of Marian Hill's "Got It". The song's clip became one of Inna's most successful videos in her native country as it reached No.1 on the Romanian TV Airplay Chart on 9 February 2015 and stayed there for ten non-consecutive weeks. "Diggy Down" was a massive radio hit on the Romanian Radio Airplay Chart, reaching No.1 on 1 March 2015. It stayed there for six consecutive weeks. The song won the award for "Best Dance" during the Media Music Awards 2015 ceremony in Sibiu, Romania, on 3 September 2015.

In December 2014 Romanian music group Morandi released their single "Summer In December, which features Inna as the guest vocalist. The song performed disappointingly on the Romania Airplay 100, only reaching No.80. 3 Sud Est also featured Inna on "Mai stai". Released on 15 April 2015 the single debuted only twelve days after its release on the Romanian Airplay Chart at number eighty-nine on 26 April 2015. "Mai stai" reached its peak-position at number twenty-five on its fifth week on the Airplay 100.

Inna previously published a preview of unreleased tracks on her YouTube channel on 16 October 2014. A song called "We Wanna" was also featured. However, it didn't premiere as Inna's single, being fully credited to Romanian singer Alexandra Stan. The song furthermore features a rap cameo from Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee. Once it was released, "We Wanna" debuted at number sixty-six on the native Airplay 100, scoring the highest entry of that week. After it reached its peak position at number fifty-nine, it rose up to popularity in Italy as it charted for a long time on the Italian iTunes and Shazam charts. "We Wanna" peaked furthermore at number seventy-two in both Czech Republic and Japan. On the Slovakian Singles Chart, it performed majorly and reached number thirty-two, while on the Spanish Singles Chart number eighty-two. "We Wanna" 's well-received music video was launched on 6 June 2015 and was shot in both Puerto Rico and Romania by Khaled Mokhtar, Dimitri Caceaune and David Gal. It presents Inna, Stan and Yankee residing in a party hall.

Inna announced on 7 July 2015 that the Japanese release of her fourth studio album would be called Body And The Sun and released on 31 July 2015. However, the Japanese edition was also launched worldwide on 23 July 2015. INNA, the commonly used version of Inna's fourth studio album was planned to be released on 15 October 2015 but was finally launched on 30 October 2015. Subsequently, the second release from the full-length record called "Bop Bop" has been launched on 13 July 2015. It features American singer-songwriter Eric Turner and was described as "crazy", "energetic" and "very different from what I did so far" by Inna. "Bop Bop" debuted on the native Romanian Airplay 100 at number sixty-four on 26 July 2015 and rose up thirty-seven places to number twenty-seven on the following week; it reached its peak position at number two on 11 October 2015.

"Yalla" was picked as the next single released from INNA. It's accompanying music video was directed by Barna Nemethi and shot in Morocco. The chorus of "Yalla" was completely sung in the Arabic language. The video premiered on 12 November 2015 on Inna's YouTube account. The song debuted on the Romania Airplay 100 at number ninety-four on 15 November 2015 and reached number seventeen on the chart. The song also performed in the Polish and Bulgarian charts, peaking at number 9 in the latter. "Yalla" became a massive hit in Turkey, where it charted for a long time in the iTunes and Shazam charts.

"Rendez Vous" became the next and final single released from Body And The Sun and INNA. Its accompanying video was released on 4 February 2016 to celebrate 1 billion subscribers on INNA's YouTube page. The single became a massive radio hit in Poland, where it topped the Dance Top 50 and reached the 12th position at the Polish Airplay 100. Furthermore, the song peaked in the Romanian Top 100 at number 45.

2016–present: New album

On 7 June 2016, INNA released her new single, "Heaven", which became a radio success in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, peaking within the Top 10 in Romania, Bulgaria and Poland. The song also perfromed on the Greek Music Charts, reaching the thirty second position of the International Airplay on October 23.

Furthermore, the song performed well in Albania, becoming the third most Shazamed song in the country in September 2016. It also charted in the Shazam Top 20 of Mauritius, Iran and Tajikistan, and in the Top 100 of Ukraine and Chile. "Heaven" was produced by Marco & Seba & written by Axident. It's video amassed over 30 million views on YouTube 4 months after its release and was shot on the island of Mauritius.

INNA released on September 28 a promotion single called "Say It With Your Body". The song was released for promotional purposes with an accompanying Online Video and INNA via Facebook page that she is working on her fifth studio album, which will feature "Heaven" and "Say It With Your Body".

INNA stated on various interviews for Romanian and Mexican radios that she is soon releasing a single called "Gimme Gimme", which will most likely be featuring another artist and which's video will be shot in Colombia. The song contains Indian musical influences.

Personal life

Philanthropy

Inna is an activist for children's rights in Romania and has been proposed for the title of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Late November 2011 Inna signed herself in for an anti-domestic violence campaign in order to empower women to rise and stand up against being abused or battered. Inna signed a petition that asks the Romanian government to improve upon a law that causes all perpetrators of domestic violence to be punished as official outlaws. The "Bring The Sun in My Life" campaign (named after the chorus of Inna's song "Endless") brings together many Romanian female stars with makeup resembling bruises from their partners, a visual way of advocating anti-domestic violence. The no-violence campaign raises awareness regarding violence. In 2015 Inna was one of the artists taking part in that year's album by the Marató de TV3, an important telethon in Catalonia held every year since 1992 for research in currently incurable diseases. Her song was "Tu tens la força" (You Have the Power), a cover version in Catalan of Gala's 1996 dance hit "Freed from Desire". INNA participated in 2016 in an anti-bullying campaign with Cartoon Network Romania. Likewise, Inna is one of the few Romanian artists that supports LGBT rights. In 2016, she signed, along with other Romanian personalities, an open letter supporting the LGBT community, in response to a Romanian Orthodox Church-backed action to amend the definition of family provided by the Constitution. The action has been criticized by Romanian and international human rights groups, whereas narrows the rights of LGBT people.

Musical influences and styles

Inna named David Guetta (pictured) one of her main sources of inspiration

Inna has been compared to Shakira, Rihanna, Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga. In her teens, Inna performed with a pop rock band that did not achieve much success. Her first recordings are the ballads and soft pop/rock songs "Goodbye", "Sorry" and the Romanian language song "Oare" (Really), which were not released until her later success.

After meeting the producers making up Play & Win, her musical style changed radically. Dance and club songs became her most frequent recordings. Inna's second album called I Am the Club Rocker contains more down-midtempo songs than the previous Hot, with songs like "Put Your Hands Up" or "Endless". The album also contains a tropical-flavored track "Un Momento" which is Inna's first movement toward R&B music. On 1 December 2011, Inna covered the song "Mai frumoasa", a classic pop song in Romania, originally performed by Laura Stoica. In an interview with a DJ from Fun Radio, Inna stated that her main sources of inspiration are David Guetta, Kelly Rowland and Kylie Minogue, but she also listed Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Cher as her idols. In an interview with Cătălin Măruţă, on Pro TV's show "Happy Hour", she stated that her Romanian music icons are Andra and the late Mădălina Manole. During an interview for News of the World, Inna cited Swedish House Mafia, The Black Eyed Peas, and singer Jessie J as her later inspirations. She also says that her biggest icons that she might never get a chance to meet are P!nk and Shakira. Inna is also influenced by Latin American acts such as RBD, Daddy Yankee or Thalía. She is also a fan of Avicii, Afrojack and Sander Van Doorn.

Discography

Main article: Inna discography

• Hot (2009)
• I Am the Club Rocker (2011)
• Party Never Ends (2013)
• INNA (2015)

Tours

• INNA en Concert (2011)
• INNA: Live la Arenele Romane (2011)
• I Am the Club Rocker Tour (2012)
• Party Never Ends Tour (2013)
• INNA Tour (2016)

See also

• Honorific nicknames in popular music
• Music of Romania
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance airplay chart
• List of awards and nominations received by Inna