Desire Luzinda is a Ugandan US California-based recording, performing artiste, philanthropist, and founder of Desire Luzinda Foundation International (DLFI) established on June 5, 2021. With influences from songbirds

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

, Desire Luzinda is an inspiring icon in society today. Luzinda sings in

Luganda The Ganda language or Luganda (, , ) is a Bantu language spoken in the African Great Lakes region. It is one of the major languages in Uganda and is spoken by more than 10 million Baganda and other people principally in central Uganda including ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and Swahili.

Early life

Born Racheal Desire Luzinda on 15 August 1980 at Mulago Referral

Hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, Desire Luzinda was raised in Uganda by her parents Mr. and Mrs. Luzinda. Desire Luzinda's father pursued education and was a Cabinet Minister during Amin's regime and a Member of the Legislature in the mid-90s.

Education

Desire Luzinda went to Buganda Road for Primary one to seven. She then joined Omega College and Makerere High School for A-level education. Desire Luzinda enrolled for a bachelor's degree in Development Economics at Makerere University and stopped in year two. In 2020, Desire Luzinda graduated as a Medical Assistant at San Leandro Adult School in California.

Radio and TV career

Desire Luzinda worked as a live media presenter with WBS TV from 2005 to 2007. Desire later joined Dembe FM where she worked on an evening drive show with Kasuku, Mayende, and Orlando from February to October 2011 in Uganda Kampala.

Motherhood

Music career

Desire Luzinda's Afrobeat Pop music journey kicked off after high school. She went to Fenon events and recorded her first song 'Nakowa Emikwano' in 2006. On Friday 13 June 2008, Desire Luzinda launched Nkomyewo debut EP at Hotel Africana featuring other acts like K-Lyinn (Tanzania), Juliana Kanyomozi,

Bebe Cool Bebe Cool (real name Moses Ssali; born 1 September 1977) is an African reggae and ragga musician from Uganda. He started his career around 1997 in Nairobi, Kenya, but moved back to his native country a few years later. Bebe Cool was one of the ...

Bobi Wine Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan politician, singer, and actor. He is a former Member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda's Central Region. He also leads ...

Blu*3 Blu 3 was a Ugandan all-female band formed in April 2004 after winning the TV show Coca Cola ''Popstars''. The name is contrived to mean 3 Beautiful (or Black) Ladies from Uganda. Original members were Jackie Chandiru, Lilian Mbabazi and Cindere ...

Jose Chameleone Joseph Mayanja (born 30 April 1979), better known by the stage name Jose Chameleone, is a Ugandan AfroBeat artist and musician. Chameleone sings in Luganda, English and Swahili. He started his music career in the early 1990s in Kenya with the ...

, Sarah Zawedde, Obsessions, and Qute Kaye. More of her early releases include ''Mubite'', ''Nyumirwa Nyo'', ''Anything For You'', ''Ddobo'', ''Buliwendi'', ''Stay With Me'' (Ft. D-BLACK), ''Lwaki'', ''Tononya'' (Ft. Radio & Weasel)'', Nkyomyewo'', ''Nina Omwami'', ''Equation'', ''Fitting'' (Ft. Radio & Weasel) and ''Kitone''. On 9 October 2013, Desire performed in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Holland (Netherlands), and other neighboring countries for the Independence festivals alongside Coco Finger. On 6 June 2014, Desire held her maiden VIP music concert at the Kampala Serena Hotel dubbed 'Black and White'

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

. Part of the proceeds went towards supporting the little angels in Ibanda Babies Home. She partnered with companies KFM, NBS TV, Power Horse, Face TV, Silk Events, and Dembe FM to make this a success. On 13 September 2014, Desire performed at the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

convention Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

. This live concert dubbed the ‘UK-Ugandan Affair’ featured other Ugandan artistes Judith Babirye and Ronald Mayinja at Troxy Arena in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In November 2014, Desire Luzinda was hosted on the Sporah TV show. The discussion was centered around Desire Luzinda's motherhood, music, and concerts all around the world. On 10 March 2015, Desire Luzinda performed in

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

Brazzaville where she traveled with her band assemble to entertain her inter-continental fans based in Congo. On 3 September 2016, Desire Luzinda performed for her South African fans at the third edition of Starqt Awards giving gala held at Legislature City Hall in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. On 8 December 2017 Desire performed as one of the main acts at The Abryanz Style and Fashion Awards 2017 at the Kampala Serena Hotel themed the Fashion Takeover, celebrating the business and entrepreneurial potential of the fashion industry in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The event was hosted by Nana Akua and produced by South Africa's David Tlale alongside Musicians Mafikizolo,

Eddy Kenzo Edrisah Musuuza, known professionally as Eddy Kenzo, is a Grammy Nominated Ugandan singer and music executive who is a founder and a member of Big Talent Entertainment. He received international attention after the release of his 2014 single, " ...

, and Sheebah Karungi . On 3 August 2018, Desire Luzinda held the Transition Album Launch at Sky Lounge in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

. Desire Luzinda said in a bid to turn her life around, it took her three years to make up her mind to become a born-again

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. 'Transition' was a 17

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

LP with songs ''Onkolela'', ''Stood In The Gap'', ''Lwakisa'', ''Maanyi Gamukyala'', ''Kale'', ''Love Yo'', ''Kimala'', ''What a Man'', ''Kiwujjo'', ''Nyo Nyo Dala'', ''Be There'', ''Ziba Ziba'', ''Ondeka'', ''Never Let You Go'', ''Nkwasaganya'', ''Damn'' (Ft Choozen Blood) and ''Pocket Money''. 'Transition' is available on platforms like

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

, Shazam,

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, Deezer,

Napster Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...

, and

BoomPlay Boomplay or Boomplay Music is a media streaming and download service developed by Transsnet Music Limited. The service was first launched in Nigeria in 2015 by TECNO Mobile, Transsion Holdings. Boomplay has a freemium and subscription based serv ...

Music. On 5 June 2021 at her NGO launch, Desire Luzinda performed with a 6 piece band. She had not performed for her local fans for many years. The event was organized and publicized by Bryan Morel Publications. Production was done by Fenon events and the VIP coveted evening had guests marvel at the lighting and

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

which gave the event a classy corporate feel. Desire Luzinda performed covers of go''spel songs like ''Imela'' by Nathaniel Basset featuring Enitan Adaba, ''Never Give Up'' by Tasha Cobbs Leonard,'' Because He Lives by Gaither Vocal Band, and Guy Penrod, ''Grace/ Call me Favour'' by Deborah Lukalu. In attendance were Apostle Grace Lubega of Phaneroo Ministries, Hon.

Amelia Kyambadde Amelia Anne Kyambadde (born 30 June 1955) is a Ugandan Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Politician, Eco-tourism enthusiast, Real Estate Developer, Trade Consultant and an advocate for the empowerment of women. She served as Minister for Trade, Industr ...

, Hon.

Miria Matembe Miria Rukoza Koburunga Matembe, LL.D ''(honoris causa)'' (born 28 August 1953) is a former member of the Pan-African Parliament from Uganda. While serving there, she was chairperson of the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline a permanen ...

, Pastor Edwin Musiime, Hon. Nyeko Derick, amongst other eminent figures.

Challenges

On 11 November 2014, Desire Luzinda was interviewed by

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

’s Ugandan correspondent, Catherine Byaruhanga following a scandal where Desire Luzinda's estranged boyfriend leaked her private pictures. Desire Luzinda confirmed to BBC that her lawyers were looking into legal options at that time.

Achievements

Desire Luzinda has awards, certifications, and recognitions spanning her music and philanthropy including; • HiPipo Music Awards Best Reggae song 2014 NOD • Artiste of the Year Award in the African Crown Music Awards 2016 in Sweden. • Abryanz Style and Fashion Awards - Most Stylish Female Artiste 2016 • PAM Awards - Best New Artiste 2007 • PAM Awards - Best Female Artiste 2007 • PAM Awards - Best Afrobeat Single (Nyumirwa Nyo) 2008 • Desire Luzinda's Kitone song named among MTN CallerTunez Awards 2017 Rewarded for her works, including most downloaded caller tune on the MTN network.

Philanthropy and social work

Desire Luzinda is in activism. She began her singular charity operations in 2013 by assisting orphaned children at Uplift A child in Lungujja Kampala, Ibanda Babies Home, and many other outreaches that she organized to collect and donate items such as scholastic materials, beddings and food to this orphanage.

Girls, goals and cyberbullying

Due to the history that Desire Luzinda had with being bullied online as a public figure, she started using her story for the young generation to make the right choices when chasing their dreams. This is through Girls and Goals, a campaign she spearheaded in 2018 to fight stigma and depression that is caused by the pressures of girls' self-esteem. Now based in California, USA, Desire Luzinda is using her fame and success to broaden her philanthropic and noble base. On Saturday 5 June 2021 Desire Luzinda flew back to Uganda and launched her NGO dubbed Desire Luzinda Foundation International (DLFI) in a VIP coveted dinner at Kampala Serena Hotel hosting over 500 guests. Desire chose to make it a norm to celebrate her birthday with those in need. On 16 August 2021, Desire Luzinda, through DLFI partnered with Hairby Zziwa Salon and Academy to give the children a haircut and luncheon to celebrate yet another year of Desire Luzinda their patron. The aim of the foundation is to attract more sustainable, predictable funding, simplify the process of accepting philanthropic contributions from friends, family, and well-wishers across the globe. The foundation works with other communities through projects in education, livelihood, agriculture, and cultural exchange.

International media attention

On 10 June 2021, Desire Luzinda shared her aftermath experience with revenge porn on BBC World Service, the world's leading public service broadcaster including BBC News Africa ,

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

which is UK 's most-watched channel, and the pioneering online-only youth service, BBC Three . Appearing on BBC News Africa World Service's The Comb, Desire Luzinda made remarks to BBC Swahili reporter, Isaac Mumena and affirmed her new destiny that came from the challenges she went through, <<Bryan Morel Publications Bryan may refer to: Places United States * Bryan, Arkansas * Bryan, Kentucky * Bryan, Ohio * Bryan, Texas * Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming * Bryan Township (disambiguation) Facilities and structu ...