Danish musician
This article is about Danish singer songwriter. For Swedish hip hop / rap duo, see Medina (duo). For other uses, see Medina (disambiguation).
Musical artist
Medina Danielle Oona Valbak[1] (born Andrea Fuentealba Valbak;[2] 30 November ), known as Medina (Danish:[me̝ˈtiːnæ]; Spanish:[meˈðina]), is a Danish singer and songwriter. She has released one EP and seven studio albums. She became popular with various singles such as "Kun for mig" in Scandinavia, and "Addiction" in various European and English-speaking countries. At the Danish Music Awards, she won female artist of the year, Album of the year, and Songwriter of the year.[3]
She released her first two single's in Denmark titled "Flå" ("Rip") and "Et Øjeblik" ("One Moment") in This was followed by her debut album, Tæt på (Close by).
She rose to fame primarily within several countries in Western Europe in with the release of "Kun for mig" (which was later released in English as "You and I"), the lead single off her second album, Velkommen til Medina (Welcome to Medina).[3] The single spent six weeks at number one on the Danish Singles Chart, eventually reaching triple-platinum status.[4][5] The second single off the same album, "Velkommen til Medina" also charted number one in Denmark which spent five weeks at the top of the singles chart and reached a platinum status there.[6][7] Medina's third and fourth single, "Ensom" ("Lonely") and "Vi to" ("The two of us") peaked at number two in Denmark, and they both earned her a platinum-award.[5][8]
In September , Medina released an English-language version of "Kun for mig", titled You and I, in the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This version reached thirty-nine on the UK Singles Chart and entered the top-ten on the German Singles Chart.[9][10]
In , two collaborative singles of Medina have also reached the top of the Danish charts. First is " dage" by Medina and Thomas Helmig and the second is "Mest ondt" by Burhan G featuring Medina.
Awards won by Medina include Best Danish Act at the and MTV Europe Music Awards.[11] In Medina won six awards at the Danish Music Awards, she was awarded Danish Female Artist of the Year, Danish Album of the Year (Velkommen til Medina), New Danish Name of the Year, Danish Hit of the Year (Vi to), Danish Songwriter of the Year (together with Providers) and Danish Producer of the Year (Providers for Medina).[12]
In July , Medina's international debut album, Welcome to Medina was released. It reached 9th in Germany, 45th in Austria, and 24th in Switzerland.[13][14] Apart from seven new songs, the album also includes English-language versions of the four singles off its Danish counterpart, including "Lonely" (English version of "Ensom"), it was released as the second single from the album.
In her Danish studio album For Altid was released, including the single's "Synd for Dig", "For Altid", "Kl. 10", "12 Dage", "Lyser i Morke", and "Har du Glemt". The repackaged special edition included the final single "Junkie (featuring Svenstrup)", the latter released single's take on a more EDM, Dance-Pop sound, reminiscent of Velkommen til Medina. It was followed up in by the English version of the same name, titled Forever.
From to Medina went on a short hiatus between and , later embarking on smaller projects, including the release of an urban inspired EP, and a live album, which are both primarily in Danish.
Since she has released two studio albums, We Survive (English studio album) in , and Grim (Danish studio album) in
Medina has released several new singles (featuring a single with the band Zookeeper's). In the first half of she released a new live album titled Det Bliver Altid Forår, the album includes several of her most famous Danish singles recorded and performed amidst a live audience, prior to the outbreak of COVID She also married her partner in mid In July Medina announced via social media that new music was coming, leading to speculation that she would be releasing a new album, it is set to include multiple languages, a first for Medina. However, it has not been confirmed by Medina whether those rumours are true. Medina's new album is set to have a more urban, and EDM sound compared to her previous studio albums.
In the latter half of Medina would go onto release several new singles, mostly in Danish, including several Danish covers from the new season of "Toppen Af Poppen" (Danish TV Show), where she makes a return for the new season of the show.
Her fans call themselves "Medivas".[15]
Medina premiered a new documentary series about her current life and past struggles in , titled Medina.
Medina's father is Chilean,[2] her mother is a Dane that grew up in Malaysia.[15] She changed her name in to Medina Danielle Oona Valbak after visiting a numerologist.[2][15] The name "Medina" is not a reference to the Saudi Arabian city of Medina, rather it is a common name in Chile.[15]
In she was in a relationship with Samir Soud. The coupled had planned to get married,[15] but they broke up in the wake of the success of Medina's first album.[16] Shortly after that she had a relationship with dancer Mathias Arvedsen until [16] She has also dated Danish singer Xander.[16] From to she dated and lived with Danish singer Christopher,[16][15][17] As of she was in a relationship with model Mikkel Gregers Jensen;[2] they broke up in [16]
Medina was confirmed in August to be expecting her first child with husband Malo Chapsal.[18] Medina announced on Instagram in December , that she is expecting her second child with Malo Chapsal, expected to arrive in June [19]
During the COVID pandemic, Medina drew controversy for spreading misinformation regarding COVID and its vaccines. She posted a story on her Instagram profile in December which said: "Sick how there are no limits to how much you can lie and misinform people!!!!".[20]
Main article: Medina discography
Danish studio albums
English studio albums