Dilba

Swedish pop singer of Kurdish origin, born 24 November 1971 in Kirwan in the province of Elâzığ in southeastern Turkey. Sister of performer Dilnarin "Dee" Demirbag (Dee (29)) and journalist Dilsa Demirbag Sten. Dilba was introduced to the piano as early as when she went to kindergarten and is also self-taught in the guitar. She started her career as a DJ and she as also worked as a backup singer for the Swedish pop singers Jennifer Brown and Eric Gadd. In 1996, Dilba released her debut album Dilba together with the single I'm Sorry. All the lyrics of the songs on this album were written by herself, just like the music. The album was a success, and she was awarded with a Grammy and the Aftonbladet prize Rockbjörnen. The album sold more than 100 000 copies in Sweden. After a successful summer tour in 1997, it took two years until she released her second album You & I in 1999. It was, however, not acclaimed by the critics and sold only 20 000 copies. Dilba's third album Revolution was released in March 2003, alongside with the single Every Little Thing, which was a success on the radio. In 2005 Dilba composed the song Miracle, which became the theme score for the Swedish television's TV-series Kommissionen. Also, during the autumn of 2005, Dilba had regular live performances at a club in Stockholm. In 2011 Dilba participated in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. She competed in the first semi-final on 5 February 2011 in Coop Arena, Luleå with the song "Try Again" (Pettersson/Sonnvik) but she did not qualify for the next round. The song, however, became an instant hit. It went straight to iTunes number one and Digilitan's second place. An EP of Try Again also followed. In 1998, Dilba met pop singer Martin Svensson at a party, and they later married in the summer of 2000. A divorce was filed in 2002. In July 2007 Dilba was detained from boarding a plane to the United States after joking that she had some planes to bomb.