Maria Louise Joensen (born 21 January 1985), known as Aura Dione, is a Danish singer and songwriter. In 2008 she released her debut album, '' Columbine''. The album spawned the hit single "

I Will Love You Monday (365) "I Will Love You Monday (365)" is a song by Danish singer-songwriter Aura Dione from her debut album '' Columbine''. It was released as her debut single in Europe on 10 November 2009 by Island Records, except Denmark, where the original version, ...

", which reached number one in Germany, achieved over 80 million video views and was certified platinum. After winning the European Border Breaker Award in 2011, Dione won Best Female Artist and Hit of the Year for "

Geronimo Geronimo ( apm, Goyaałé, , ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a prominent leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache ba ...

" at the Danish Music Awards 2012 and Female Artist of the Year in 2013; she is one of Denmark's top two female recording artists and one of Germany's top three.

Life and career

Early life

Aura Dione was born Maria Joensen on 21 January 1985 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Her mother is Faroese of French descent, while her father is of Danish and Spanish descent. Her parents introduced her to music, and she began writing songs when she was as young as 8 years old.Rune Langhoff
"Aura af Verden"
''

Berlingske Tidende ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, ''Berling's Times''), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' ...

'' (23 January 2008). Retrieved 9 December 2009. Her parents were

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

s who with Aura as a child sailed all the world's oceans, until the 7-year-old was given residence on

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

. Here, she began her formal schooling and as a teenager enrolled to

Secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

, but in the middle of her education she chose to move to Australia where she sought inspiration from the Aborigines. This later resulted into a song "Something From Nothing".

2007–2010: ''Columbine'' and international breakthrough

Dione debuted in summer 2007 with the single "Something From Nothing", but has also gained success with the track " Song for Sophie" - both from her album ''Columbine'', which was released in 2008. The single "I Will Love You Monday" a No.1 hit in Europe, where it was issued in an expanded version titled "

2011–2015: ''Before the Dinosaurs''

Dione released her second international studio album '' Before the Dinosaurs'' on 4 November 2011. The first single release "

" was produced by

David Jost David Jost (born 12 August 1972) is a German music producer, singer-songwriter and DJ born in Hamburg. His career has a track record of 74 platinum and 108 gold records and 14 No. 1 hits. He's worked with artists like Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, To ...

and went straight to the #1 in the official German Media Control Charts. In the very same year Aura Dione won a

European Border Breakers Award The European Border Breakers Award (EBBA) was an annual prize awarded to recognise the success of ten emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries with their first internationally released album in the past year. ...

for her international breakthrough. Aura Dione recently released the second single "Friends" of her international hit album '' Before the Dinosaurs''. The song is written and produced by Dione,

and

Rock Mafia Rock Mafia is an American record production team, consisting of Tim James and Antonina Armato who have been active since the early 2000s. They have written and produced 38 top ten singles, and have sold over 50 million records worldwide. They hav ...

and reached the official German Radio Charts #1. "Friends" is Dione's third Radio #1 single.

Personal life

Dione was engaged to Danish billionaire

Janus Friis Janus Friis (; born 26 June 1976) is a Danish entrepreneur best known for co-founding the file-sharing application Kazaa, and the peer-to-peer telephony application Skype. In September 2005, he and his business partner Niklas Zennström sold Sk ...

but the couple split up in April 2015.

Awards and recognition

Danish Music Awards , - , rowspan="2", 2009 , '' Columbine'' , Årets Danske Pop Udgivelse , , - , rowspan="4", Herself , rowspan="2", Årets Danske Kvindelige Kunstner , , - , rowspan="5", 2012 , , - , Årets Publikumpris , , - , Ærespris , , - , '' Before the Dinosaurs'' , Årets Danske Pop Udgivelse , , - , "

" , Årets Danske Hit ,

GAFFA Awards ''Gaffa'' (stylized as ''GAFFA'') is a free Nordic music magazine with local editions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''Gaffa'' is Denmark's largest and oldest music magazine. It has been published since 1983 and has 320,000 print readers and 75 ...

!Ref. , - , rowspan=2, 2021 , Herself , Best Danish Solo Act , , rowspan=2, , - , ''Fearless Lovers'' , Best Danish Pop Album , MTV Europe Music Awards , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, Herself , Best Danish Act ,

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Featured singles

Promotional singles

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dione, Aura 1985 births Living people Danish women singer-songwriters Musicians from Copenhagen Danish people of Spanish descent Danish people of French descent Danish people of Faroese descent English-language singers from Denmark Island Records artists 21st-century Danish women singers