Bleona

Bleona Nazmi Qereti (born May 14, 1979) is an Albanian and American singer-songwriter, actress and model.

Life Qereti is an American citizen, and, as of 2010, lives in California, where she has worked with producers such as Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins, and Grammy Award winner David Foster. She has released eight studio albums in Albanian, and has released several singles in English, such as "Show Off", "Famous", "Take You Over", "Without You" and "Pass Out," the latter co-produced by Timbaland. On September 10, 2013, she released the single "Take It Like a Man", which went to No. 7 in the UK charts. She was also a celebrity judge on the fourth season of the Albanian version of The X Factor and the breakout star of the 2014 Bravo reality series Euros of Hollywood.

In February 2019, she landed her first number one single on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart with "I Don't Need Your Love."

Early life and career Qereti was born on May 14, 1979, in Korçë, the daughter of Albanian parents Oli and Nazmi Qereti.

Bleona began singing at age 5 when she joined the House of Pionieri. At 13, her parents encouraged her to focus on academics and give up on singing, but against their advice, she continued to pursue a career in entertainment. When she was 14 years old, Bleona earned an audition and landed her first major role as the lead singer for the Skampa Theater in Elbasan.

Following a performance at the Albanian National Music Festival at age 15, Bleona became a household name in her native country. She released her first single "Lermëni (Let Me Be Free)" in 1996, and the following year issued her debut album Kam Qejfin Tim (I Run My Own Game). Bleona's first major tour took place that year, and she performed 25 summer shows at concert halls in Switzerland and Germany. Bleona has said she learned Italian through music and often performs in Italian, and she also records in English and Albanian. She studied the Stanislavski System of acting, graduating with a BA from the Academy of Performing Arts in Tirana. She also plays violin.

1998–2008

From 1998 through 2002, Bleona released four albums, all of which reached the charts in southeastern Europe. In 1999 she headlined the Humanitarian Tour for the People of Kosovo, where she played a number of concerts around Europe. From 2000 to 2001, she performed more than 80 concerts across Europe, and by 2002 was headlining outdoor concerts and festivals. In 2002, a concert program titled Nje xhiro neper Shqiperi (Walking Through Albania) was issued; footage is available online. In 2003, Bleona released Ti Nuk Di As Me Ma Lyp. A 2004 piece in the Albanian daily Panorama relayed her own claim that the album had sold 400,000 copies by that time.

Since 2013, she has performed at U.S. events including White Party Palm Springs and Las Vegas Pride, and she staged concerts in the Balkans in 2012.

In 2005, her song S'dua received the Television Prize (Çmimi Televiziv) at the Kënga Magjike (Magic Song) festival in Tirana, Albania. According to her official biography, Bleona's eighth album, Mandarin, reportedly sold over 800,000 copies in 2007, breaking her previous record. In theme with the album, which means "tangerine", she dyed her hair red in 2006 and kept it that way until 2007, featuring the color in three music videos. In 2008, Bleona won two awards (media and internet) with the song "Magnetic" at the "Magic Song Festival Awards".

2009–2012 Bleona moved to the U.S. in September 2010. Shortly afterward, she met producer Timbaland while both were attending the Grammy Awards, and after a year of discussions, she began working with him on three new tracks. Her first English language single, "Show Off", featuring Petey Pablo, was released on September 27, 2010. Bleona has also worked on songs with Rodney Jerkins, Makeba, and Jimmy Douglass.

In September 2012, Bleona's co-produced single with Timbaland, "Pass Out", featuring Brasco, was released. She toured Europe to promote the single, performing in Albania in the cities of Vlora, Elbasan, Shkoder and Tirana; the capital city of Pristina in Kosovo; Tetovo in Macedonia and Düsseldorf, Germany. Supporting her on tour was DJ Freestyle Steve and Brasco. According to CNA, in 2012, Bleona's tour concerts “exceeded all expectations, reaching over 70,000 spectators.”

2013–2019 In mid-2013, Bleona announced the release of her single "Take It Like a Man", produced by StopWaitGo. A review on EQ Music Blog described "Take It Like a Man" as "a pop fizzy anthem that bubbles with euro pop sensibility". She celebrated the track reaching number 7 on the UK club charts by headlining Las Vegas Gay Pride on September 7, 2013.

Bleona was invited to perform consecutive years at the Palm Springs White Party, in 2013 and 2014.

In 2015, following her time as a judge on X Factor Europe, Bleona's single "Take You Over" peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.

Bleona recorded her version of the 1980s Italian hit song "Su di noi", originally by Enzo Ghinazzi. Her music video for the track was shot at the iconic El Matador Beach in Malibu, California. In February 2019, she landed her first number-one single on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart with the hit track "I Don't Need Your Love".

In February 2014, Bleona started shooting a new reality television series titled Euros of Hollywood which premiered on November 3, 2014, on Bravo. The show followed Bleona recording her first album in English and her life in America on becoming a global superstar. In 2015, Bleona returned to Albania where she was a member of the X Factor jury. In 2016, she was a member of the Albanian Your Face Sounds Familiar jury. Bleona played the role of Nova in the series Paper Empire, which debuted in 2019. The show featured an ensemble cast including Wesley Snipes, Denise Richards, Robert Davi, and Anne Archer.

Television + Television Title Year Role Ref Fashion News Live 2011 Herself Red Carpet Report 2012 Herself True Justice 2012 Luna Euros of Hollywood 2014 Herself X Factor: Albania 2015 Herself Your Face Sounds Familiar Albania 2016 Herself Paper Empire 2020 Nova

Films + Films Title Year Role Ref 211 2018 Christine Dead Trigger 2019 Natalie Falco 2019 Frida Kodra Chief of Station 2024 Bianca

Personal life Qereti is fluent in Albanian, English and Italian. In 2009, she moved to Los Angeles and became an American citizen in 2011.

Qereti posed for Vogue in December 2025.

She was married to businessman Gani Bardha from 2001 until 2011. After their divorce it was released later that Qereti dated Bardha again and is still living with him since 2019.

Discography

Kam Qejfin Tim (1997) Nese Me Do Fort (1999) S'me Behet Vone (2001) Ik Meso Si Dashurohet (2002) Ti Nuk Di As Me Ma Lyp (2003) Greatest Hits (2005) Boom Boom (2005) Mandarin (2007)

Weekly charts I Don't Need Your Love (2019)Peak position Wicked Love (2018)Peak position Monster (2018)Peak position Take You Over (2015)Peak position

Billboard Dance Chart success Bleona has achieved notable success on the Billboard Dance Club Songs and Dance/Electronic Songs charts, with several of her singles reaching high positions.

"Take It Like a Man" peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. "Wicked Love" reached number 12 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. "I Don't Need Your Love" reached number 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. "Monster" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.