Table of Biography
Era Istrefi is a talented Kosovo-Albanian pop singer and songwriter. Era Istrefi rose to fame after releasing the popular dance hall-leaning dance-pop cum EDM song ‘BonBon’ in 2015.
Early Life and Childhood
Era Istrefi was born on 4th July 1995, in Pristina, Kosovo. She is turning 28 years old in 2024 and her zodiac sign is Cancer. Her mother, Suzana Istrefi, is a musician active between the 1980s and 1990s. Similarly, her father, Nezir Istrefi, who was a journalist, died in 2004.
Moreover, her mother took a break from her career upon her husband’s death. She and her siblings Nora Istrefi, Nita Istrefi, and Bledi Istrefi, were brought up by her mother alone. Further, she has Albanian ancestry on her mother’s side.
Caption: Era Istrefi and her sister Nora clicking a picture. Source: Instagram
Era Istrefi – Professional Life
Era Istrefi’s career started in 2013 when she officially released her debut single ‘Mani Për Money’ in her native country. The song was in Gheg Albanian but it contained a few English phrases as well. Moreover, she won the Best New Artist award at the 2014 VideoFest Awards. Her second single, ‘A Po Don?’, followed soon after. A music video, it too became fairly popular.
Therefore, the idea of a music video looked very promising to her and she decided to release her third single as a music video too. The shooting for the third song ‘E den’ took place at an Orthodox church. The song became a huge hit and earned her two awards at the VideoFest Awards. It was for Best Performance and Best Styling.
In 2014, she released a pop ballad titled ‘13’, which went on to receive over 12 million views on YouTube as of August 2018. The music video was viewed over 200,000 times on the first day of its release. The popularity of this video earned her fans from all over the world and made her famous in the international music scene.
Similarly, on December 31, 2015, she released her next single, ‘BonBon’, which would later become one of the most successful singles in her career. The song became an instant fan favorite and went viral on various social media sites besides YouTube. Moreover, her self-titled YouTube channel was created on September 20, 2013.
More about her career
Era Istrefi was being compared to the likes of Rihanna and Sia for her singing style which resembled theirs. Istrefi then signed a contract with Sony Music Entertainment and later moved to Ultra Music following her recent success. The following years saw Istrefi releasing some more popular songs like ‘Redrum’, ‘No I Love Yous and Origami’.
In May 2018, Istrefi, Will Smith, and Nicky Jam were announced as the singers of the official song of the FIFA World Cup 2018. They performed the song ‘Live It Up’ at the closing ceremony of the grand event on July 15, 2018. Likewise, in 2019, Istrefi collaborated with Belgian duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike on her follow-up single “Selfish”. It topped the Billboard Dance Club Airplay chart.
And after two months, she worked with her sister and Albanian singer Nora Istrefi on the single “Nuk E Di”. It marked the first time that both artists have collaborated musically on a recording. Likewise, in the same year, she released “Sayonara детка” with Russian rapper Элджей. And was also featured along with American rapper Offset on the single “Let’s Get Married” by Dutch duo Yellow Claw.
Caption: Era Istrefi while performing in the World Cup 2018. Source: CGTN
Music video controversy
Era Istrefi received criticism from the ‘Serbian Orthodox Church’ after the release of the music video for her third single “E Dehun”. Therefore, the video depicted a semi-nude woman dancing around the Church of Christ the Saviour in Pristina. Then, the Serbian Orthodox Church called her actions “demonic” and “blasphemous”.
, Ismaili reacted to the controversial act, citing that there was no intention to offend Serbians and that he had permission to shoot the video at the entrance of the church.
Racism controversy
Moreover, when her biggest song to date “BonBon” was originally released through NESËR, the lyrics contained the ethnic slur nigga. As the song’s popularity increased, the English-speaking audience began to notice the use of the slur. As Istrefi being a Caucasian Southern European woman, caused an outrage. And after the video was re-uploaded to Ultra Music’s YouTube channel, the word was cut out.
She later apologized via social media for using the word:
“My apologies for the ignorance in using the N word. In Kosova there r no black people so we call each other that way in terms of “bro”. Thats why we should always think B.I.G
#noracism #weareone ?
Love
Era ?”
Era Istrefi – Personal Life
Era Istrefi was rumored to be dating her manager, Faton Shoshi till mid-2017. Although the two never accepted it publicly, they also did not deny the claims. Moreover, in an interview in 2016, Era even claimed that she was not single. But she did not reveal the name of her love interest. They parted ways in November 2017 by not renewing the contract. But she posted photos of them visiting Red Square on July 17, 2018. As of now, she is probably single and is enjoying her life.
Body Measurements
This beautiful personality has thick full lips and protruding cheekbones. Era Istrefi has blonde hair and often dyes her hair into different colors. Istrefi has a slim body figure with a height of 5 feet 9 inches. Similarly, she weighs around 62 Kilos. Moreover, she has a pair of brown eyes. Her other body measurements are not revealed. However, she has maintained a hot and sexy body figure.
Caption: Era Istrefi posing for a photo. Source: Instagram
Social Media
Her self-titled YouTube channel has earned over 200K subscribers. Era Istrefi is quite famous on Instagram with more than 1.5 million followers. Her official Facebook page has earned over 516K followers. Moreover, she is active on Twitter with more than 72.8K followers.
Era Istrefi – Net Worth 2024
This talented personality is sure to earn a pocketful amount of money. However, she has not revealed her exact earnings. But, her net worth is estimated to be around $1 million – $5 million.