Lana Jurčević (; born 7 November 1984), internationally better known as La Lana (pronounced ), is a Croatian pop singer. Her self-titled debut album was released in 2003, with all of the songs on the album written by

Milana Vlaović Milana Vlaović (; born 1971 in Metković) is a Croatian journalist, composer, writer and columnist. Journalistic career She had finished her elementary school as well as high school in Metković, and as she turned 18, she started to study at the ...

. In her early career she had already worked with big names of the Croatian music industry, such as Vlaović,

Nikša Bratoš Nikša Bratoš (born 17 August 1959) is a Croatian musician. He is known for having played in bands Bonton Baya, Valentino and Crvena jabuka. He has worked on songs for a variety of Croatian pop artists. Biography Bratoš was born in 1959, an ...

, Ante Pecotić, Muc Softić,

Luka Nižetić Luka Nižetić (born 12 August 1983) is a Croatian singer. His debut album '' Premijera'' was released in 2005. He is best known for his hits "Amsterdam" and "Proljeće" ("Springtime"). Early life Luka Nižetić was born in Split, SR Croatia, Y ...

and Severina. Alongside her musical career, she also holds a degree in journalism. In the span of fifteen years, she has released five studio albums. In January 2020, she began her international music career, releasing her debut international single " So Messed Up" for

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

under the stage name La Lana.

Early life

Lana was born on November 7, 1984, in Zagreb,

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(today

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) to a Croatian father from

Imotski Imotski () is a small town on the northeastern side of the Biokovo massif in the Dalmatian Hinterland of southern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The town has a generally mild Mediterranean climate which makes it a popular ...

, Damir, and a

Bosniak The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

mother, Esma ( Karaselimović). At an early age, she had a passion for singing, and thought she would eventually become a singer.

Career

Early career: Teen idol image

In 2003 at the beginning of her musical career, Jurčević released her self-titled debut album ''Lana'' for

Croatia Records Croatia Records is a record label in Croatia owned by AUTOR d.o.o., based in Zagreb. Summary Croatia Records d.d. is a joint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, a sound engineer. It releases mostly (but ...

. It spawned hit singles such as "Odlaziš" (''You're Leaving''), "Otkad te nema" (''Ever Since You're Gone''), "Najbolja glumica" (''The Best Actress''), "Ovo nije istina" (''This Is Not True''), and "Pravi razlog" (''Real Reason'') and a duet with Croatian singer Severina "Rođena da budem prva" (''Born to be first''). In 2004, she performed "Odlaziš" at the

Croatian Radio Festival {{Short description, Annual Croatian festival from 1997 to 2009 The Croatian Radio Festival ( Croatian: Hrvatski Radijski Festival, abbreviated as HRF) was a music festival held annually in Croatia from 1997 to 2009. The festival was first held in 1 ...

. She has also taken part in Dora 2004, Croatian national pre-selection for

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, with the song "Prava istina" (''Real Truth''), finishing sixth in the final. In 2005, her song "Ovo nije istina" won ''24sata'''s award for most interesting performance at the Croatian Radio Festival. In 2006, Jurčević released her sophomore album, ''1 razlog'', released by

Hit Records Hit Records was a record company based in Nashville, Tennessee, which specialized in sound-alike cover versions of hit records. These types of releases are often categorized as exploito. Background It was run by entrepreneurs Bill Beasley and ...

. The same year she performed a duet with

titled "Prava ljubav" (''Real Love'') at the Croatian Radio Festival, which was a major commercial success and is one of Jurčević's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

s to date. In 2007, she represented Croatia at the

OGAE Song Contest The (; ), shortened to OGAE, is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and worldwide. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikkal ...

with "1 razlog" (''1 Reason''). She competed again at Dora in 2006 with the song "Najbolja glumica". Lana performed "Ljubav nije greška" (''Love Is Not a Mistake'') at

Sunčane Skale Sunčane Skale was a pop music festival held every summer in Herceg Novi, Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_ ...

, and finished twelfth. On 15 April 2007, she starred in the TV show ''Nad lipom 35'', playing herself. She took part in ''Ples za zvijezdama'', the Croatian version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' and finished second. Later, in 2008, she released a number of singles, such as "Pronađi me" (''Find Me''), "Marija" (''Mary'') and "Miljama daleko" (''Miles Away''). Soon after she released her third album '' Volim biti zaljubljena''. At the 2008 Croatian Radio Festival, she performed "Zora bijela" (''White Dawn''). A year later, she performed the song "Začaran" (''Enchanted''). The same year she covered a traditional Croatian

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

"Djetešce nam se rodilo" (''A Child Was Born Unto Us'').

2010–2019: The change of image

In March 2010, she released the single "Kopija" (''Copy''), which served as the lead single for her compilation album of the same name. In May 2011, she visited

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and appeared in a number of shows in Serbia, Macedonia and Slovenia, performing the last single off ''Kopija'', "Ubile usne moje" (''My Lips Have Killed''). In 2012, she released her fourth album ''Pobjede i porazi'', which was characterized by more mature sound than her previous studio efforts. The following year she performed the song "La la land" off the album at the CMC Festival in Vodice. She concluded the year with a collaboration with Croatian

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

group Connect, titled "Noć bez granica" (''Night Without Limits''). Throughout 2014 she released a number of singles such as "Duša hrvatska" (''Croatian Soul''), the revenue of which was donated to the victims of

2014 Southeast Europe floods Between 13 and 18 May 2014 a low-pressure cyclone designated ''Tamara'' and ''Yvette'' affected a large area of Southeastern and Central Europe, causing floods and landslides. Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered the greatest damage, as t ...

as part of the humanitarian action organized by HDS ZAMP, "Majica" (''T-shirt'') and "Hollywood". The following year she released "Od najgorih najbolji" (''The Best of the Worst''), the second duet with Luka Nižetić following 2006's "Prava ljubav". In the summer she dropped "Ludo ljeto" (''Crazy Summer''). The song received positive reviews from critics and it was performed at the CMC Festival in Vodice and ''

X Factor Adria ''X Factor Adria'', usually referred simply as ''X Faktor'', was a Balkan production of international talent show franchise of ''The X Factor''. The Adria edition of the show covered Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Mac ...

''. In 2016 she took part in '' Tvoje lice zvuči poznato'', Croatian version of ''

Your Face Sounds Familiar ''Your Face Sounds Familiar'' ( Spanish: ''Tu cara me suena'') is a Spanish interactive reality television franchise series where celebrity contestants impersonate singers. The format, similar to Dutch television series '' Soundmixshow'', was ...

'', finishing third. In 2017 Jurčević released her fifth album ''Tabu'', which received positive reviews. It was preceded by singles "Kim Kardashian", "Daj da plovimo" (''Let's Sail'') as well as the title track (''Taboo''). She released two singles in 2018, "Usne od milijun watti" (''Million

Watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

Lips'') and "Upalimo ljubav" (''Let's Turn On Love'') with

Luka Basi Luka Basi, is a Slovenian singer and songwriter . He is chiefly known for his main hit songs: ''Istrijanko ružo moja'', ''Meta'', ''Taxi'', ''Sedam Noći'', ''Seko Moja'', and ''Kad vidin boga uživo,'' as well as his collaborations with Joško ...

, before taking a hiatus.

2020–present: International career

Jurčević ended the hiatus in January 2020, deleting all posts off her

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account and announcing that she had signed a contract with

. The same month she released her debut international single " So Messed Up" under a new stage name La Lana.

Personal life

Business

She completed senior year of journalism at

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

. In September 2010, she opened her own dance studio in Zagreb, LA Studio. In June 2018, she founded her own natural

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

and

skincare Skin care or skincare is the practice of maintaining and improving the health and appearance of the skin. It includes washing, moisturizing, protecting from the sun, and treating skin problems like acne and dryness. Skin care can help prevent i ...

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

La Piel.

Relationships

In early 2000s, Jurčević was dating Ivan Todorić, son of a Croatian business mogul

Ivica Todorić Ivica Todorić (; born 2 January 1951) is a Croatian businessman. Until June 2017, he was the owner and chairman of the board of Agrokor, the largest privately owned company in Croatia. The operations of Agrokor are focused on two core businesse ...

. They were together for 7 years, until 2007. In 2009, Jurčević was dating Fabijan Marić until 2011, when they broke up. She has been in a relationship with

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of her company Filip Kratofil since 2017, and in December 2023 they welcomed their first child Mayla Lily.

Discography

Albums

* ''Lana'' (2003) * ''1 razlog'' (2006) * '' Volim biti zaljubljena'' (2008) * ''Pobjede i porazi'' (2012) * ''Tabu'' (2017)

Compilation albums

* ''Kopija'' (2010)

References

External links

Lana official website

Lana official blog

Lana youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Lana 1984 births 21st-century Croatian women singers Living people Croatian pop singers Croatian mezzo-sopranos Musicians from Zagreb Croatian people of Bosniak descent