Tola (born Tola Klara Szlagowska on 27 November 1992) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in 2005 as one of the lead singers of Polish girl duo

Blog 27 Blog 27 was a Polish musical group founded in 2005 by two teenage vocalists Tola Szlagowska and Ala Boratyn performing pop music with elements of pop punk and pop rock. The duo's debut album, ''LOL'' (2005), was certified double platinum in Pola ...

which enjoyed success in Poland, Central Europe, and Japan. She has continued her solo career since 2011.

Career

In 2005, she founded a music duo

with her friend

Ala Boratyn Ala Boratyn (), also known mononymously as Ala, born Alicja Julia Boratyn on 27 November 1992, is a Polish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in 2005 as one of the lead singers of Polish girl duo Blog 27. With Blog 27, Boratyn enjoyed success i ...

. The group released two studio albums, ''

LOL LOL, or lol, is an initialism for laughing out loud and a popular element of Internet slang. It was first used almost exclusively on Usenet, but has since become widespread in other forms of computer-mediated communication and even face-to ...

'' (2005) and '' Before I'll Die...'' (2008), which spawned hit singles " Uh La La La", " Hey Boy (Get Your Ass Up)", " Wid Out Ya", and " Cute (I'm Not Cute!)". In 2008, Szlagowska appeared in a popular Polish TV series '' 39 i pół'' which also featured the band's songs. Despite international success, Blog 27 ceased activity the same year when Tola moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to study at Alexander Hamilton High School and

Los Angeles College of Music Los Angeles College of Music (LACM, formerly LAMA College for Music Professionals) is a private for-profit music college in Pasadena, in Los Angeles County, California. It has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music ...

. Between 2011 and 2012, she released a series of solo singles mononymously as Tola, including "Muse" and "Let It Go", which met with positive feedback. "Muse" was one of the contenders to represent Poland in the 2011

OGAE Video Contest The (OGAE) () is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and beyond. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikkalainen. Four non- ...

. In 2017, she previewed some of the new material live in Poland and collaborated with American DJ Smiles Davis who

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

her song "Morning Blues". Tola returned in 2018 with the single "Atmosphere", distributed by

Warner Music Poland Warner Music Poland Sp. z o.o., is a Polish subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it was founded in 1994 in Warsaw. The label's CEO is Piotr Kabaj. The label started with a catalog of Polish national record label Polton which was bought from Starst ...

, which met with positive reception. Her first solo album, ''Subtitles'', was released independently by her label Humans on Earth in February 2021, promoted by a new single, "Recycled/Fragile".

Private life

Tola's father, Jarosław Szlagowski, performed as a percussionist with such Polish rock bands as

Lady Pank Lady Pank is a popular Polish rock band, started in 1981 in Wrocław by Jan Borysewicz and Andrzej Mogielnicki. One of the most popular groups in history of Polish rock. Its first hit was ''Mała Lady Punk'' ("Little Lady Punk"). Lady Pank gar ...

and

Maanam Maanam (Tamil for respect or dignity) was a Polish rock band. History Maanam was formed by Marek Jackowski and Milo Kurtis in 1975 as guitar band M-a-M. In 1976 the band was joined by guitar player John Porter and by Kora ( Olga Jackowska) - J ...

, and her mother, Żaneta, worked for the Polish subsidiary of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. She has described her spiritual views as equally inspired by

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. She has spoken out in favour of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

and criticized the

2008 California Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cour ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official profile
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Szlagowska, Tola 1992 births 21st-century Polish women singers 21st-century Polish singers English-language singers from Poland Living people Musicians from Warsaw Polish pop singers Polish expatriates in the United States