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Dan Mihai Balan is a Moldovan singer, songwriter and producer. He was born to Mihai Balan and Ludmila Balan, a TV presenter.[1] Dan Balan has performed Eurodance or commercially-Pop music. He is best known for his part in the eurodance music trio O-Zone, a group he led to fame across Europe with the hit single “Dragostea din Tei.“

O-Zone
Main article: O-Zone
The group was started by Dan Balan in 1998 with Petru Jelihovschi. They released their first album, Dar unde esti ?“ (in translation “Where are you, anyways ?“ in 1999.[citation needed] However, for Petru music was just the main hobby so the group split up. Balan was determined not to end the project though, so he opened auditions where he met Arsenie Todiras ( or Arsenium ). He was skeptical of Arsenie talents of course, but he‘d sung “Love me tender“ a classic hit. A couple of weeks later Radu Sirbu took part at the auditions and Balan found out there are three guys ready for succes. They‘ve formed the official O-Zone band.
Mainly singing eurodance music using Romanian language, and especially famous due to the hit-single “Dragostea Din Tei“ (translates to Love among the Linden Trees), a summer hit off the album DiscO-Zone. Dragostea Din Tei reached #1 position in many single charts in Europe around 2003 and 2004, and was placed third in the UK‘s Single Chart. Another single called “Despre Tine“ (“about you“) from the same album had similar success across Europe.
Converse to its multi-platinum status in Europe, O-Zone never the charts in the United States. Because of the Numa Numa Dance, “Dragostea Din Tei“ had a burst of popularity in the United States. While the song received moderate to major airplay, most Americans never knew who the group was or the original song‘s name. In January 2005, the trio split to pursue solo careers.
[edit]Development in Los Angeles
In 2004, Balan decided to venture closer to the dance roots. He chose the best musicians in his region and moved with them to Los Angeles in 2005. Although Dan wrote the compositions prior to the formation of his band, it took two years to get a signature sound and their own captivating style. He asked producer Jack Joseph Puig (John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, No Doubt, The Black Crows, Rolling Stones) to produce the record.[citation needed] An album was recorded in April/June 2006 at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles.
[edit]Crazy Loop
Main article: Crazy Loop
In 2006, Balan introduced an alter ego-character, Crazy Loop, with an ‘Eurodance flavoured song “Crazy Loop (Mm-ma-ma)“‘. The video was directed by Marc Klasfeld, was released throughout Europe in the fall of 2007 and was voted the song of the year by fans, not including Romania.[citation needed] In December 2007, Dan also released the ‘Crazy Loop‘ album entitled The Power of Shower (music album). The song “Crazy Loop (Mm-ma-ma)“ reached number one on the Romanian charts more than a month.[citation needed] In 2008 he released the video for the second song Joanna (Shut Up !).

Chica Bomb
In 2010 he released “Chica Bomb”, his first single under the name Dan Balan, featuring romanian Caty DeCicca[citation needed]. It became an instant hit in many European countries and hit #37 in Germany and #44 in UK Singles Chart.