Ilira

Ilira, born Ilira Gashi on 29 October 1994 in Brienz, Switzerland, is a Swiss pop singer and songwriter. Her father, Ismet, is a Kosovo Albanian from Pristina, and her mother, Entela, is Albanian from Tirana. Her father's roots are why she is listed here among the artists of Kosovo; through her mother she may just as well be counted as Albanian.

She started out by posting videos of herself singing on Instagram, which led to her first record deal. She moved to Berlin and signed a management and publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and in 2018 she signed with the label Four Music.

Her debut single, "Whisper My Name", came out on 24 August 2018, followed the same year by "Get Off My D!ck", which entered Spotify's US Viral Top 50. Her first chart hit came with the German DJ Alle Farben: "Fading" reached number 16 in the German singles chart and spent four weeks at number one on the German airplay chart.

In 2019 she released four singles: "Do It Yourself", "Diablo" with the Spanish producer and singer Juan Magán, "Pay Me Back!" and "Extra Fr!es". In 2020 came "Royalty", "Fuck It, I Love It!", "Ladida (My Heart Goes Boom)" with Crispie, "Easy" and "Eat My Brain".

In December 2021 she announced a joint deal with Virgin Records and Universal Music Group, and "Flowers", released on 17 December, was her first single for Virgin. "Another Heart" followed in 2022. In 2023 she released three singles and then her six-track debut EP, Never Really The End, and in late 2024 she put out the single "Floating with the sharks" on her own.