Bleona Nazmi Qereti, known professionally as Bleona, was born on May 14, 1979 in Korçë, Albania. She began her singing career at age five and released her first single, "Lermeni (Let Me Be Free)", and album, Kam Qejfin Tim (I Run My Own Game), by the time she was fifteen. From 1998 to 2002, Bleona released four albums that reached the charts in southeastern Europe. In 2007, her album Mandarinë sold over 800,000 copies. She moved to the United States in September 2010 and began collaborating with producers such as Timbaland and Rodney Jerkins, later releasing her English-language single, "Show Off". In 2013, her single "Take It Like a Man" reached number 7 on the UK charts. She has also acted in films like 211 (2018) and Dead Trigger (2019). Bleona's first Number 1 single on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart was "I Don't Need Your Love" in February 2019.
