Helan Abdulla (

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

: هێلین عەبدوڵڵا; born 16 November 1988), better known by her stage name Helly Luv (ھێڵی لۆڤ), is a Kurdish-Finnish singer, dancer, choreographer, actress and

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

. She rose to fame after uploading cover videos on social media websites like Myspace and

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 ...

. Helly Luv has since starred in movies, music videos and has released her own material. Gaining popularity from her 2013 single "Risk It All", Helly Luv has recently signed to G2 Music Group. In 2014, she appeared in her first theatrical feature film, ''

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

''.

Personal life

Helly Luv was born to a

family during the

Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

in the city of

Urmia Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an alt ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

on November 16, 1988. Her family escaped the city of

Dohuk Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate. History The city's origin dates back to the Ston ...

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...

by fleeing to

, where she was born, and suddenly to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

for safety. Eventually Helly Luv and her family's application was approved to become citizens of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, allowing her and her family to be one of the first Kurdish immigrants to live there. She took an interest in singing in a neighborhood choir and then expanded her interest by playing the piano, and taking drama classes. She began performing in school demonstrating her singing and dancing abilities. Dancing became her primary focus and afforded her an opportunity to compete in European dance championships and soon signed a contract with Finland's Nike Women.

Career

In 2006, Helly Luv moved to Los Angeles, California, United States on her own to pursue her dream. Just before she started making arrangements to return to

, Helly Luv received a Myspace message from

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

winning record producer

Los Da Mystro Carlos McKinney (born January 10, 1973), known professionally as Los Da Mystro, is an American record producer and jazz pianist. Biography McKinney was born into a prominent Detroit jazz family; he is a nephew to pianist Harold McKinney, ba ...

to sign an artist deal with his production company. During this deal she had the opportunity to work with Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter

The-Dream Terius Youngdell Nash (born September 20, 1977), better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. His co-writing credits include songs with "Me Against the Music" (2003) for Britney Spears, "Ride ...

. In winter 2013, Helly Luv signed a music deal with Gawain "G2" Bracy II and G2 Music Group. G2 Music Group released "Risk It All," the lively and inspirational leadoff single from Helly Luv's debut album. Produced almost entirely by Gawain "G2" Bracy II, the song synthesized Latin and Middle Eastern rhythms with

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

-pop songwriting. "Risk It All" received attention almost immediately in Finland, peaking all the way to the top three

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 ...

singles the first week and competing with

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

's "

Diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

" single.

Helly Luv Queen Elizabeth II Performance

In 2014, Helly Luv starred in the international film ''

'' directed by Batin Ghobadi and

Bahman Ghobadi Bahman Ghobadi ( fa, بهمن قبادی; ; born 1 February 1969 in Baneh, Kurdistan province, Iran) is an Iranian Kurdish film director, producer and writer. He belongs to the " new wave" of Iranian cinema. Biography He was born in Baneh, a K ...

where she played the leading role of Leila. Later that year she attended the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

becoming the first

actress to attend the event. In 2015, Helly Luv shot the video for her single "Revolution" in an abandoned village near

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

, where the Kurdish forces were fighting the

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. In the video of the single, she is seen painting the word "Revolution" on a tank shell in red lipstick and then Attack on the

front lines just a few kilometers away.

Other ventures

Philanthropy

In 2014, she created her Luv House

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

to help the people and animals in need throughout

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

. On January 22, 2014 Helly Luv, A.R.K (Animal Rights Kurdistan), W.I.N.E (Women's International Network Erbil), Dr. Sulaiman Tameer, KOARP (Kurdistan Organization for Animal Rights Protection), Miss Kurdistan Fenik, and the owner of the Zoo helped close the doors to the Gelkand Park in

(the second worst zoo in the world). Helly Luv and the other organizations moved the animals to a new and improved zoo in

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

, the capital of the

region. On July 6, 2014, Helly Luv visited the

peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...

headquarters in the city of

Duhok Duhok ( ku, دهۆک, translit=Dihok; ar, دهوك, Dahūk; syr, ܒܝܬ ܢܘܗܕܪܐ, Beth Nohadra) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It's the capital city of Duhok Governorate. History The city's origin dates back to the Stone ...

, Iraq near the border of

, Iraq during the defense against

; with a mission to deliver food and water to the peshmerga troops.

Singles

* "Risk It All" (2013) * "Revolution" (2015) *"Bad Kitty (Down on the Floor)" (2012) *"GUNS & ROSES" (2018) with Ardian Bujupi *”Boy-bye” (2019) *"Min Tu Navey" (2020) *"Mshtaglk" (2021) as featured artist *”Kurdish Barbie” (2022)

Filmography

* ''

'' (2014) * ''Flag Without A Country'' (2015)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luv, Helly 1988 births English-language singers from Finland 21st-century Finnish women singers Finnish people of Kurdish descent Iranian emigrants to Finland Iranian expatriates in the United States Iranian expatriates in Turkey Iranian Kurdish women Iranian refugees Kurdish women singers Kurdish singer-songwriters Kurdish-language singers Finnish-language singers Living people People from Urmia Finnish expatriates in the United States 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Refugees in Finland Arabic-language singers