Dr. Alban
Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Ogbuagu Alban Uzoma Nwapa (born 26 August 1957), better known by his stage name Dr. Alban, is a Nigerian-Swedish musician and producer with his own record label, Dr. Records.<ref name="Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)">Template:Cite web</ref> His music can best be described as Eurodance/hip-hop reggae in a dancehall style.<ref name="Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)"/> He has sold an estimated 16 million records worldwide<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and is most famous for his worldwide 1992 hit "It's My Life", from the album One Love.<ref name="Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)"/>
Life and career
Early life
Alban was born Alban Uzoma Nwapa into a middle-class family of ten children in Oguta, Imo state, Nigeria. He is Igbo.<ref name="Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)" />
Education
He got his secondary education at Christ the King College and spent most of his youth in his hometown of Oguta. At age 23, he travelled to Sweden to study dentistry at Lund University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)" /> To finance his studies, Dr. Alban became a DJ at the Stockholm club Alphabet Street.<ref name="Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)" />
Denniz Pop and achieving success: 1990s
In 1990, he met Denniz Pop from the SweMix label and, together with Denniz and rap artist Leila K, released his first record Hello Afrika. At this point, he took the stage name Dr. Alban, a nod to his dental studies. His debut album included hits like "Hello Afrika" and "No Coke", both of which ended up being million-selling singles.<ref name="Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)" /> The album itself was quite successful and earned him gold certification awards in numerous markets including Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units), Austria (25,000), and Switzerland (25,000).<ref name="Dr. Alban's German Certification(s) for Hello Afrika">Template:Cite certification</ref><ref name="Austria's Certification-database">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Swiss Certifications for 1991">Template:Cite web</ref>
One year later, this success was surpassed by his second album One Love. The album included European hit singles such as "It's My Life" and "Sing Hallelujah". The single "It's My Life" reached No. 1 in Israel, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany, and No. 2 in Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.<ref name="European positions for Dr. Alban's It's My Life">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="German positions for Dr. Alban's Singles">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref name="UK positions for Dr. Alban">Template:Cite web</ref> The song "It's My Life" went platinum in Germany (for sales of over 500,000 units), in the Netherlands (75,000), and it sold over two million copies overall in Europe.<ref name="Allmusic: Dr. Alban (Biography)" /><ref name="Dr. Alban's German Certification(s) for It's My Life">Template:Cite certification</ref><ref name="Dutch Certification(s) for It's My Life">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> The album in turn reached the top of the album chart in Austria and entered the top five in Switzerland, also reaching No. 6 in Germany.<ref name="European positions for Dr. Alban's One Love (Album)">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="German positions for Dr. Alban's Albums">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> It went gold in Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units) and platinum both in Austria and Switzerland (both 50,000).<ref name="Austria's Certification-database" /><ref name="Dr. Alban's German Certification(s) for One Love">Template:Cite certification</ref><ref name="Swiss Certifications for 1992">Template:Cite web</ref>
Alban's third album Look Who's Talking!, released in 1994, hit the top 10 in numerous markets including Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.<ref name="German positions for Dr. Alban's Albums" /><ref name="European positions for Dr. Alban's Look Who's Talking Now (Album)">Template:Cite web</ref> The album was the first to earn Alban a gold certification award in his home country of Sweden for sales of over 50,000 units.<ref name="Swedish Certifications 1987-1998">Template:Cite web</ref>
Dr. Alban founded his own record label Dr. Records, whereon he released his 1996 album Born in Africa. The album was unable to match the success of his previous releases. It only reached No. 12 in Finland, while it peaked at No. 37 in Switzerland and Sweden, No. 52 in Germany, and No. 41 in Austria.<ref name="German positions for Dr. Alban's Albums" /><ref name="European positions for Dr. Alban's Born in Africa (Album)">Template:Cite web</ref> The single "Born in Africa" went to number 1 in Finland.
In 1997, Alban released the compilation album The Very Best of 1990–1997, which only charted in Austria, Sweden, and Germany. The same year, the artist also released the studio album Believe, which peaked at No. 27 in Sweden, No. 30 in Finland, and No. 41 in Austria.<ref name="European positions for Dr. Alban's Believe (Album)">Template:Cite web</ref> In late 1998, Dr. Alban released a single with German-based artist Sash!, entitled "Colour the World", which experienced moderate chart success in Europe.<ref name="European positions for Dr. Alban's Colour the World (Single)">Template:Cite web</ref>
Decline and return to music: 2000s
In 2000, Alban released the single "What Do I Do", which charted only in Sweden at No. 43; it spent only two weeks on the charts there.<ref name="European positions for Dr. Alban's What Do I Do (Single)">Template:Cite web</ref> The album Prescription was a flop, as it failed to chart anywhere.
In 2007, after years of absence from the music scene, Dr. Alban released the studio album Back to Basics. It was sold on the internet only through Dr. Alban's official website. In Russia, however, physical CDs and cassettes were released.
Later activities: 2010s–present
In 2010, Alban collaborated once again with Sash! to produce a remake of "Hello Afrika", "Hello South Afrika", dedicated to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was followed by a single consisting of 16 remixes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 15 February 2014 at the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg, Dr. Alban teamed up with Jessica Folcker and arrived in fifth place in the third heat of Melodifestivalen 2014, with the song "Around the World", to win the right to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In 2015, he released the single "Hurricane", which failed to enter the European charts.
In May 2020, Alban released the song "Hello Sverige" (in Swedish) to encourage the population of Sweden to respect social distancing measures put in place to counteract the COVID-19 pandemic. The next month, he released an English version titled "Hello Nations". The song is another remake of his classic hit "Hello Afrika".
In June 2020, Alban released the single "Drama", also in Swedish, in collaboration with singer Folkhemmet. The song talks about Alban's long-running acrimonious relationship with Swedish tabloid journalists.
Personal life
Alban met his future wife, Swedish teacher Katrine "Kin" Hermansson, in 2004, through footballer Tomas Brolin. The couple had two daughters together. They divorced in 2021, and Alban has since continued to live in Stockholm.<ref name="Relation">Over between Dr. Alban and Kin Hermansson after 18 years together – Slut mellan Dr Alban och Kin Hermansson efter 18 år tillsammans, aftonbladet.se, 17. June 2021, read 26 August 2022.</ref><ref name="Occupation">Dr. Alban about his new life as single – Dr Alban om nya livet som singel, aftonbladet.se, 18. Mau 2022, read 26. August 2022.</ref>
A member of the Nigerian chieftaincy system, Alban is entitled to use the pre-nominal honorific Ogbuagu, due to his membership of the Igbuu title society of Oguta.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE <ref name="Swedish albums/singles positions for Dr. Alban">Template:Cite web</ref> |
AUS <ref name=aus/> |
AUT <ref name="Austrian albums/singles positions for Dr. Alban">Template:Cite web</ref> |
FIN <ref name = "FIN"/> |
GER <ref name="German albums positions for Dr. Alban">Template:Cite web</ref> |
NLD <ref name="Dutch albums/singles positions for Dr. Alban">Template:Cite web</ref> |
NOR <ref name="Norwegian albums/singles positions for Dr. Alban">Template:Cite web</ref> |
SWI <ref name="Swiss album positions for Dr. Alban">Template:Cite web</ref> | ||||||
| Hello Afrika | 6 | — | 2 | 29 | 11 | 43 | — | 8 |
| ||||
| One Love |
|
15 | 149 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 15 | 3 |
| |||
| Look Who's Talking! |
|
11 | 98 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 28 | 13 | 8 |
| |||
| Born in Africa |
|
37 | — | 41 | 12 | 52 | — | — | 37 | ||||
| I Believe |
|
27 | — | 41 | 30 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Prescription |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Back to Basics |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Compilations
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE <ref name="Swedish albums/singles positions for Dr. Alban"/> |
AUT <ref name="Austrian albums/singles positions for Dr. Alban"/> |
GER <ref name="German albums positions for Dr. Alban"/> | ||
| The Very Best of 1990–1997 |
|
38 | 38 | 66 |
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE <ref>Peak positions for Swedish Singles:
|
AUS <ref name=aus>Australian (ARIA) peaks:
|
AUT <ref name="Austrian albums/singles positions for Dr. Alban"/> |
FIN <ref name = "FIN">Template:Cite book</ref> |
GER <ref name="Charts.de: Dr. Alban Singles">Template:Cite web</ref> |
NLD <ref>Peak positions for Dutch Singles:
|
SPA <ref>Template:Cite book</ref> |
SWI <ref>Peak positions for Swiss Singles:
|
UK <ref>Peak positions for UK Singles:
|
US <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | ||||
| "Hello Afrika" (featuring Leila K.) |
1990 | 7 | 180 | 1 | — | 2 | 25 | 7 | 3 | 146 | — |
|
Hello Afrika |
| "No Coke" | 1 | — | 2 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 84 | — |
| ||
| "U & Mi" | 1991 | 20 | — | 11 | 6 | 14 | — | 15 | 9 | — | — | ||
| "(Sing Shi-Wo-Wo) Stop the Pollution" | 36 | — | 16 | 3 | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | |||
| "It's My Life" | 1992 | 1 | 43 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 88 |
|
One Love |
| "One Love" | 19 | 193 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 14 | — | 11 | 45 | — | |||
| "Sing Hallelujah" | 1993 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 16 | — |
| |
| "Look Who's Talking" | 1994 | 2 | 215 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 55 | — | Look Who's Talking! | |
| "Away from Home" | 24 | 92 | 12 | 2 | 25 | 45 | 5 | 26 | 42 | — | |||
| "Let the Beat Go On" | 17 | 186 | 23 | 3 | 18 | 19 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Sweet Dreams" (featuring Swing) |
1995 | 12 | — | — | 4 | — | 44 | — | — | 59 | — | Template:N/A | |
| "This Time I'm Free" | 3 | — | 23 | 1 | 27 | 35 | — | 32 | — | — | Born in Africa | ||
| "Born in Africa" | 1996 | 11 | — | 31 | 1 | — | — | — | 47 | — | — | ||
| "Hallelujah Day" | 30 | — | 35 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "It's My Life '97" (featuring Sash!) |
1997 | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Very Best of 1990–1997 | |
| "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Carolina)" | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | I Believe | ||
| "Mr. DJ" | — | — | 21 | 8 | 70 | — | 3 | — | — | — | |||
| "Long Time Ago" | 55 | — | — | 15 | — | — | 15 | — | — | — | |||
| "Feel the Rhythm" | 1998 | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | ||
| "What Do I Do" | 2000 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Prescription | |
| "Because of You" | 2002 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Work, Work" | 2003 | 13 | — | — | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Template:N/A | |
| "Habibi" (featuring Melissa) |
2008 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Back to Basics | |
| "We Love the 90's" (featuring Haddaway) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | rowspan="8" Template:N/A | ||
| "Freedom" | 2012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Loverboy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "It's My Life 2014" | 2014 | — | — | 39 | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Around the World" (featuring Jessica Folcker) |
52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Hurricane" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Drama" (Dr. Alban & Folkhemmet, in Swedish) |
2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Change (I Have a Dream)" (featuring Whitney Peyton) |
2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE <ref>Peak positions for Swedish Singles:
|
FIN <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
FRA <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
GER <ref name="Charts.de: Dr. Alban Singles"/> |
NL <ref>Peak positions for Dutch Singles:
|
SWI <ref>Peak positions for Swiss Singles:
|
UK <ref>Peak positions for UK Singles:
| |||||||
| "Papaya Coconut" (Kikki Danielsson featuring Dr. Alban) |
1998 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | rowspan="2" Template:N/A | ||||
| "Colour the World" (Sash! featuring Dr. Alban) |
1999 | 54 | — | — | 39 | 69 | 39 | 15 | |||||
| "Sing Hallelujah (New Version)" (Yamboo featuring Dr. Alban) |
2005 | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | Okama de Mapouka | ||||
| "Chiki Chiki" (Starclub featuring Dr. Alban) |
2006 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | rowspan="5" Template:N/A | ||||
| "It's My Life (Don't Worry)" (Chawki featuring Dr. Alban) |
2014 | — | — | 187 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Good to You" (Basic Element featuring Dr. Alban) |
2016 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "It's My Life" (Popek featuring Dr. Alban) |
2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Life Is Now" (Basic Element, Dr. Alban, Waldo's People featuring Elize Ryd) |
2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
References
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- 1957 births
- Living people
- English-language singers from Sweden
- Eurodance musicians
- Igbo pop musicians
- Musicians from Imo State
- Naturalized citizens of Sweden
- Nigerian emigrants to Sweden
- Nigerian hip-hop singers
- Nigerian male musicians
- Nigerian reggae musicians
- Swedish dance musicians
- Swedish dentists
- Swedish electronic musicians
- Swedish hip-hop musicians
- Swedish pop musicians