Rita Ora

British-Albanian vocalist Rita Ora channels soul-infused phrasing and buoyant vitality into polished pop tracks that incorporate electronic textures alongside R&B grooves. Emerging near the close of the 2000s, she ascended rapidly through the British singles rankings with her opening album, Ora, which earned her the record for the greatest quantity of U.K. number ones accumulated by any artist throughout 2012. Despite prolonged contractual disputes that jeopardized momentum, she sustained chart visibility and delivered her second full-length, Phoenix, in 2018 before unveiling the Bang EP three years later. Following her move to BMG, she resurfaced in 2023 with a further collection of upbeat, dance-oriented material titled You & I.

Born Rita Sahatçiu in Pristina within the former SFR Yugoslavia—present-day Kosovo—to parents of Albanian descent, she departed the region alongside her family in 1991 and settled in England, where her upbringing unfolded in Notting Hill. A student at the renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School, she cultivated her voice from childhood through pub performances and open-mike nights. Her initial credited appearance occurred in 2007 on Craig David’s “Awkward,” followed the next year by a featured turn on Tinchy Stryder’s “Where’s Your Love.” Breakthrough came in 2009 when a Jay-Z A&R representative discovered her at an open-mike event, resulting in a recording contract with Roc Nation. During sessions for her debut album she supplied vocals for DJ Fresh’s 2012 drum’n’bass single “Hot Right Now,” which reached the U.K. summit; she duplicated that peak position later the same year with her own first solo release, “R.I.P.,” the lead track from Ora, which likewise debuted at number one on the British album chart.

Six years elapsed before her next complete studio album, during which Ora navigated extended label conflicts that culminated in a contentious 2016 departure from Roc Nation. She nonetheless maintained commercial presence through successive singles and guest appearances, among them the 2014 Iggy Azalea collaboration “Black Widow”—her initial U.S. Top Ten entry—“Poison” in 2015, the 2017 Top Ten single “Your Song,” and the 2018 Liam Payne duet “For You” for the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack, which topped charts throughout much of Europe while registering modest U.S. success. Her long-awaited second album, Phoenix, appeared on Atlantic Records in late 2018. The project enlisted an array of high-profile producers including Alesso, Avicii, Benny Blanco, and Cashmere Cat, while Julia Michaels contributed to “Keep Talking,” Rudimental joined on “Summer Love,” and Cardi B, Bebe Rexha, and Charli XCX appeared on the single “Girls.”

Ora resumed activity in 2020 with “How to Be Lonely” and a subsequent suite of remixes. The following year brought the Bang EP, featuring KHEA, David Guetta, Imanbek, and Gunna; the release performed strongly on the U.S. Dance chart. In 2022 she signed with BMG and, after the Netsky collaboration “Barricades,” issued the pulsating “You Only Love Me” in January 2023. She next reworked Fatboy Slim’s 1998 track “Praise You” into “Praising You,” which achieved hit status, placed her in the Eurovision semifinal medley, and reached number one in both Italy and the United States. Weeks before the arrival of her third album, You & I, she released the additional dancefloor single “Don’t Think Twice.” The resulting project, another exercise in euphoric escapism, carried production credits for Cirkut, Oak Felder, and additional contributors.