Alban Skënderaj (; born 20 April 1982) is an Albanian singer. Born in

Leskovik Leskovik () is a town in Korçë County, in southeastern Albania. Historically, until 2015, it was a municipality, after which it became a municipal unit of Kolonjë. Leskovik is located from Melesin mountain. The town is located close to the Gre ...

and raised in Delvine, Skënderaj has established himself as a viable artist in Albania and the Albanian-speaking Balkans. Beyond his music career, the singer has been featured as a judge on the Albanian television series '' The X Factor Albania'' and ''

The Voice of Albania ''The Voice of Albania'' is an Albanian television reality singing competition created by John de Mol Jr. and is part of ''The Voice'' franchise. It began airing on Top Channel on October 21, 2011. Top Channel ended the show, because they be ...

''.

Life and career

1982–2004: Early life and career beginnings

Alban Skënderaj was born on 20 April 1982 into an Albanian family in the city of

Lushnjë Lushnjë (; locally ''Lushnje'' ; sq-definite, Lushnja) is a city and municipality in west-central Albania. The municipality's population is 63,135 as of the 2023 census, in a total area of . History In January 1920, Lushnje was a provis ...

, then part of the People's Socialist Republic, present Albania. His father, Qerim Skënderaj, was born in the village of Ninësh,

Mallakastër Mallakastër ( sq-definite, Mallakastra) is a region and a municipality in Fier County, southwestern Albania. It was created in 2015 by the merger of the present municipalities Aranitas, Ballsh, Fratar, Greshicë, Hekal, Kutë, Ngraçan, Q ...

, and has served in the

Albanian Armed Forces The Albanian Armed Forces () are the military of Albania and were formed after the declaration of independence in 1912. Today, it consists of the General Staff, the Albanian Land Force, Albanian Air Force and the Albanian Naval Force. The P ...

. His mother, Afërdita Skënderaj, hailed from

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

and died in June 2017. Skënderaj attended the Halim Xhelo secondary school in Vlorë. At a young age, his family left Albania for political reasons as part of the

1997 Albanian civil unrest In 1997, Albania experienced widespread civil unrest due to economic problems caused by the collapse of pyramid schemes. The large sums of money siphoned from the government to fund these schemes led to the collapse of the Democratic Party's ...

and relocated to

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

, Italy. Skënderaj has three brothers, namely Arbër, Martin and Taulant. After relocating to Italy, his brothers encouraged Skënderaj to pursue a music career. He started to take music lessons and began to play guitar. Italian composer Sandro Bartolozzi discovered Skënderaj and invited him to the Artestudio53 in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy, whereupon he continued to sing with various bands.

2005–2017: Top Fest and Kënga Magjike

After his return in Albania, Skënderaj eventually started to participate in various music contests. In April 2005, the singer won the 2nd edition of

Top Fest ''Top Fest'' was an Albanian music competition organised by Top Channel. It began airing in 2004 with its last edition being in 2015. The event was annually held in Tirana, Albania. The songs were usually performed in Albanian with artists from ...

with the song "Vetëm ty". A year after, he returned to the 3rd edition of Top Fest, collaborating with the Kosovo-Albanian group Kthjellu on "Diçka", and resulted as the winners of the contest. In December 2006, he unsuccessfully debuted at at its 45th edition with the song "Eklips". The singer released his second studio album, ''Melody'' in October 2008. Finishing in second place in December 2010, Skënderaj returned to the contest's 49th edition collaborating with Albanian musician and spouse

Miriam Cani Miriam Cani (; born 30 May 1985) is an Albanian singer. She was a member of the successful German pop girl group Preluders. Beyond her music career, Cani has been featured as a judge on the Albanian television talent competition series '' The ...

on "Ende ka shpresë". In November 2012, the singer won the 14th edition of with the song "Refuzoj". From 2012 and 2015, he has been a juror for

Televizioni Klan Televizioni Klan, also shortened to TV Klan, is an Albanian private television network with national coverage, based in Tirana, Albania. History and profile TV Klan launched as an Albanian joint-venture, with its first broadcast airing on 25 Oc ...

's ''

X Factor Albania ''X Factor'' is an Albanian television reality music competition, based on the original British series, and an addition to ''The X Factor'' franchise, to find new singing talent. The show began airing on 8 January 2012 and was broadcast by TV K ...

'' show. In November 2014, the singer presented a concert at the Pallati i Kongreseve in Tirana to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his music career. Skënderaj's first number-one single, "Une dhe ti", was released in February 2016. He released his first live studio album, ''Tingujt e ditarit tim'', in April 2016. "Kam nëvoje", his follow-up single featuring Kosovo-Albanian rapper Elinel, also went on to reach number one in Albania in May 2016. In June 2016, he was honored as the male artist of the year at the Top Music Awards. Three subsequent top 10 singles, "Duart lart", "Engjëll" and "Stoli i trëndafilave", were released in the course of that year. As of 2017, Skënderaj served as a coach on the sixth season of

Top Channel Top Channel is a national commercial television network in Tirana, Albania, founded by Dritan Hoxha in 2001. It is part of the Top Media Group, one of the largest media conglomerates in Albania, which includes Top Albania Radio, Top Gold Radi ...

's ''

''. In June 2017, the singer held a concert to further promote his first live studio album, ''Tingujt e ditarit tim'', at the gardens of the

National Library of Kosovo The National Library of Kosovo (; ) is the highest library institution in Kosovo established by the Assembly and is located in Pristina. The mission of the library is to collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the documentary and intellect ...

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

. Another pair of top 10 singles in Albania, "Dikur", "1000 premtime", "Nuk je vetëm" and "Dhurata", followed throughout 2017. The track, "Dhurata" in collaboration with Miriam Cani, was dedicated to their daughter Ameli, which peaked atop the Albanian Top 100 chart. Released in 2016, "Une dhe ti" was named as the song of the year at the 2017 Kult Awards in December 2017.

2018–present: Continued success

Skënderaj's chart appearance ensued into May 2018 with the single "Ping Pong" featuring Kosovo-Albanian rapper

MC Kresha Kreshnik Fazliu (; born 5 September 1984), known professionally as MC Kresha or Mc Kresha, is a Kosovo-Albanian rapper and songwriter. Born and raised in Mitrovica, Fazliu is credited as a viable hip hop artist in the Albanian-speaking Balkans. ...

, which became a top three single in Albania. Another charting collaboration titled "Deja vu" with Albanian singer

Young Zerka Donald Najtellari (; born 1 May 1984), known professionally as Young Zerka, is an Albanian singer and songwriter. Born in Korçë and raised in London, Najtellari grew up in a Jamaican household and began singing and writing music as a teenager. ...

followed in June 2018. The follow-up "Lea" became a number-one single in September 2018 and "Nëntor, 26" experienced similar success on its release. ''Hapësira e një ëndrre'', Skënderaj's second live studio album, was premiered in October 2018. Three subsequent top 10 singles, "Plagë në gjysmëshpirt", "Drejt në zemër" and "Duamë", were released in 2019. Released to positive response, the music video of "Duamë" comprises footage from Skënderaj's marriage ceremony in the Maldives.

Personal life

After a music collaboration proposed by Cani's father, Skënderaj started a relationship with Albanian singer

in 2007. On 28 November 2015, Cani gave birth to a daughter, Ameli Skënderaj. In June 2019, Skënderaj presented a concert as part of his ''Hapësira e një ëndrre'' event in

, Kosovo, at which both Cani and Skënderaj performed "Dhurata" and started the performance by revealing she was pregnant. Their son Duam was born on 14 January 2020.

Discography

* ''Fllad në shkretirë'' (2006) * ''Melody'' (2008) * ''Ende ka shpresë'' (2011) * ''Tingujt e ditarit tim'' (2016) * ''Hapësira e një ëndrre'' (2018)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skenderaj, Alban 1982 births 21st-century Albanian male singers Albanian composers Albanian guitarists Albanian record producers Albanian songwriters Albanian-language singers Kënga Magjike winners Living people People from Lushnjë People from Vlorë