Ogbuagu Alban Uzoma Nwapa (born 26 August 1957), better known by his stage name Dr. Alban, is a Nigerian-Swedish musician and producer with his own record label, Dr. Records. His music can best be described as Eurodance/hip-hop reggae in a dancehall style. He has sold an estimated 16 million records worldwide and is most famous for his worldwide 1992 hit "It's My Life", from the album One Love. He travelled to Sweden at age 23 to study dentistry and became a DJ to finance his studies.
Life and career Early life Alban was born Alban Uzoma Nwapa into a middle-class family of ten children in Oguta, Imo state, Nigeria. He is Igbo.
Education He got his secondary education at Christ the King College and spent most of his youth in his hometown of Oguta. At age 23, he travelled to Sweden to study dentistry at Lund University. To finance his studies, Dr. Alban became a DJ at the Stockholm club Alphabet Street.
Denniz Pop and achieving success: 1990s In 1990, he met Denniz Pop from the SweMix label and, together with Denniz and rap artist Leila K, released his first record Hello Afrika. At this point, he took the stage name Dr. Alban, a nod to his dental studies. His debut album included hits like "Hello Afrika" and "No Coke", both of which ended up being million-selling singles. The album itself was quite successful and earned him gold certification awards in numerous markets including Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units), Austria (25,000), and Switzerland (25,000).
One year later, this success was surpassed by his second album One Love. The album included European hit singles such as "It's My Life" and "Sing Hallelujah". The single "It's My Life" reached No. 1 in Israel, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany, and No. 2 in Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The song "It's My Life" went platinum in Germany (for sales of over 500,000 units), in the Netherlands (75,000), and it sold over two million copies overall in Europe. The album in turn reached the top of the album chart in Austria and entered the top five in Switzerland, also reaching No. 6 in Germany. It went gold in Germany (for sales of over 250,000 units) and platinum both in Austria and Switzerland (both 50,000).
Alban's third album Look Who's Talking!, released in 1994, hit the top 10 in numerous markets including Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The album was the first to earn Alban a gold certification award in his home country of Sweden for sales of over 50,000 units.
Dr. Alban founded his own record label Dr. Records, whereon he released his 1996 album Born in Africa. The album was unable to match the success of his previous releases. It only reached No. 12 in Finland, while it peaked at No. 37 in Switzerland and Sweden, No. 52 in Germany, and No. 41 in Austria. The single "Born in Africa" went to number 1 in Finland.
In 1997, Alban released the compilation album The Very Best of 1990–1997, which only charted in Austria, Sweden, and Germany. The same year, the artist also released the studio album Believe, which peaked at No. 27 in Sweden, No. 30 in Finland, and No. 41 in Austria. In late 1998, Dr. Alban released a single with German-based artist Sash!, entitled "Colour the World", which experienced moderate chart success in Europe.
Decline and return to music: 2000s
In 2000, Alban released the single "What Do I Do", which charted only in Sweden at No. 43; it spent only two weeks on the charts there. The album Prescription was a flop, as it failed to chart anywhere.
In 2007, after years of absence from the music scene, Dr. Alban released the studio album Back to Basics. It was sold on the internet only through Dr. Alban's official website. In Russia, however, physical CDs and cassettes were released.
Later activities: 2010s–present In 2010, Alban collaborated once again with Sash! to produce a remake of "Hello Afrika", "Hello South Afrika", dedicated to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was followed by a single consisting of 16 remixes.
On 15 February 2014 at the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg, Dr. Alban teamed up with Jessica Folcker and arrived in fifth place in the third heat of Melodifestivalen 2014, with the song "Around the World", to win the right to represent Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In 2015, he released the single "Hurricane", which failed to enter the European charts.
In May 2020, Alban released the song "Hello Sverige" (in Swedish) to encourage the population of Sweden to respect social distancing measures put in place to counteract the COVID-19 pandemic. The next month, he released an English version titled "Hello Nations". The song is another remake of his classic hit "Hello Afrika".
In June 2020, Alban released the single "Drama", also in Swedish, in collaboration with singer Folkhemmet. The song talks about Alban's long-running acrimonious relationship with Swedish tabloid journalists.
Personal life Alban met his future wife, Swedish teacher Katrine "Kin" Hermansson, in 2004, through footballer Tomas Brolin. The couple had two daughters together. They divorced in 2021, and Alban has since continued to live in Stockholm.Over between Dr. Alban and Kin Hermansson after 18 years together – Slut mellan Dr Alban och Kin Hermansson efter 18 år tillsammans, aftonbladet.se, 17 June 2021, read 26 August 2022.Dr. Alban about his new life as single – Dr Alban om nya livet som singel, aftonbladet.se, 18 May 2022, read 26 August 2022.
A member of the Nigerian chieftaincy system, Alban is entitled to use the pre-nominal honorific Ogbuagu, due to his membership of the Igbuu title society of Oguta.
Discography Studio albums + Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications SWE AUS AUT FIN GER NLD NOR SWI Hello Afrika Released: 18 February 1991 Label: Ariola Formats: LP, CD, cassette 6 — 2 29 11 43 — 8 BVMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Gold IFPI SWI: Gold One Love Released: 4 May 1992 Label: Ariola Formats: LP, CD, cassette 15 149 1 4 6 20 15 3 BVMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Platinum IFPI SWI: Platinum Look Who's Talking! Released: 25 March 1994 Label: Ariola Formats: LP, CD, cassette 11 98 7 4 7 28 13 8 GLF: Gold Born in Africa Released: 9 April 1996 Label: Ariola Formats: LP, CD, cassette 37 — 41 12 52 — — 37 I Believe Released: 1 October 1997 Label: Metrovynil (EAMS Lesser) Formats: LP, CD, cassette 27 — 41 30 — — — — Prescription Released: 26 November 2001 Label: Rough Trade/Dr. Records Formats: CD, cassette — — — — — — — — Back to Basics Released: 13 November 2008 Label: Haring Records/Dr. Records Formats: Digital download, CD — — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.
Compilations + Title Album details Peak chart positions SWE AUT GER The Very Best of 1990–1997 Released: 30 June 1997 Label: Ariola Formats: LP, CD, cassette 38 38 66
Singles As lead artist + Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album SWEPeak positions for Swedish Singles: For all titles except those indicated below: For "Sweet Dreams": For "Colour the World": AUSAustralian (ARIA) peaks: Top 50 peaks: Top 100 peaks: "Away from Home" N.B. The number in the HP column indicate the peak position. "Hello Afrika" and "Let the Beat Go On": All ARIA chart peaks: N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column indicates the release's peak on the national chart. AUT FIN GER NLDPeak positions for Dutch Singles: For all titles except those indicated below: For "Sweet Dreams": For "Colour the World": SPA SWIPeak positions for Swiss Singles: For all titles except those indicated below: For "Colour the World": UKPeak positions for UK Singles: For all titles except those indicated below: For "Sweet Dreams": For "Colour the World": US "Hello Afrika"(featuring Leila K.) 1990 7 180 1 — 2 25 7 3 146 — GLF: Gold Hello Afrika "No Coke" 1 — 2 12 3 7 6 3 84 — GLF: Platinum "U & Mi" 1991 20 — 11 6 14 — 15 9 — — "(Sing Shi-Wo-Wo) Stop the Pollution" 36 — 16 3 — — — 13 — — "It's My Life" 1992 1 43 1 5 1 1 11 2 2 88 BPI: Silver BVMI: Platinum IFPI AUT: Gold NVPI: Platinum One Love "One Love" 19 193 9 7 7 14 — 11 45 — "Sing Hallelujah" 1993 6 5 7 2 4 6 8 4 16 — ARIA: Platinum BVMI: Platinum "Look Who's Talking" 1994 2 215 3 1 3 4 2 6 55 — Look Who's Talking! "Away from Home" 24 92 12 2 25 45 5 26 42 — "Let the Beat Go On" 17 186 23 3 18 19 — — — — "Sweet Dreams"(featuring Swing) 1995 12 — — 4 — 44 — — 59 — "This Time I'm Free" 3 — 23 1 27 35 — 32 — — Born in Africa"Born in Africa" 1996 11 — 31 1 — — — 47 — — "Hallelujah Day" 30 — 35 12 — — — — — — "It's My Life '97"(featuring Sash!) 1997 — — — 18 — — — — — — The Very Best of 1990–1997 "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Carolina)" 6 — — — — — — — — — I Believe "Mr. DJ" — — 21 8 70 — 3 — — — "Long Time Ago" 55 — — 15 — — 15 — — — "Feel the Rhythm" 1998 56 — — — — — 13 — — — "What Do I Do" 2000 43 — — — — — — — — — Prescription "Because of You" 2002 — — — — — — — — — — "Work, Work" 2003 13 — — 19 — — — — — — "Habibi"(featuring Melissa) 2008 — — — — — — — — — — Back to Basics "We Love the 90's"(featuring Haddaway) — — — — — — — — — — rowspan="8" "Freedom" 2012 — — — — — — — — — — "Loverboy" — — — — — — — — — — "It's My Life 2014" 2014 — — 39 — 29 — — — — — "Around the World"(featuring Jessica Folcker) 52 — — — — — — — — — "Hurricane" 2015 — — — — — — — — — — "Drama"(Dr. Alban & Folkhemmet, in Swedish) 2020 — — — — — — — — — — "Change (I Have a Dream)"(featuring Whitney Peyton) 2022 — — — — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.
As featured artist + Title Year Peak chart positions Album SWEPeak positions for Swedish Singles: For all titles except those indicated below: For "Colour the World": FIN FRA GER NLPeak positions for Dutch Singles: For "Colour the World": SWIPeak positions for Swiss Singles: For "Colour the World": UKPeak positions for UK Singles: For "Colour the World": "Papaya Coconut" (Kikki Danielsson featuring Dr. Alban) 1998 22 — — — — — — rowspan="2" "Colour the World"(Sash! featuring Dr. Alban) 1999 54 — — 39 69 39 15 "Sing Hallelujah (New Version)"(Yamboo featuring Dr. Alban) 2005 — 12 — — — — — Okama de Mapouka "Chiki Chiki"(Starclub featuring Dr. Alban) 2006 — — — — — — — rowspan="5" "It's My Life (Don't Worry)"(Chawki featuring Dr. Alban) 2014 — — 187 — — — — "Good to You"(Basic Element featuring Dr. Alban) 2016 — — — — — — — "It's My Life"(Popek featuring Dr. Alban) 2020 — — — — — — — "Life Is Now"(Basic Element, Dr. Alban, Waldo's People featuring Elize Ryd) 2022 — — — — — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.
References
External links
Dr. Alban Records