Zuzanna Irena Jurczak (born 2 September 1997), known professionally as sanah (stylized in all lowercase), is a Polish singer, songwriter, violinist, and composer, performing indie pop and art pop. She received nationwide popularity in 2020, with the release of her single "Szampan", which became a number-one hit in Poland. She later released her debut studio album Królowa dram (2020), which peaked at number-one in Poland.
Sanah | |
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![]() Sanah in 2022 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Zuzanna Irena Jurczak |
Born | (1997-09-02) 2 September 1997 (age 25) Warsaw, Poland |
Genres |
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Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 2014–present |
Labels | Magic |
Website | sanah |
The nickname "sanah" was created after shortening the English version of the singer's first name, Susannah.[1] She previously performed under the pseudonym "Ayreen", derived from her middle name.[2][3]
Sanah was born in Warsaw. She has six siblings.[4] Her mother is a veterinarian by profession (she studied veterinary medicine at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences).[5] She has lived in Stare Babice (Warsaw West County) since childhood.[6][7]
She started attending music school at the age of six;[8] she started playing the violin at the age of four and started learning piano at the age of five.[9] From 2004 to 2013 she attended the Grażyna Bacewicz State Music School Complex in Warsaw. During this period she won an audition for a chamber quartet at the ZPOSM.[10] For the next three years she studied at the Zenon Brzewski General Secondary Music School in Warsaw. In June 2019 she defended her bachelor's thesis in violin class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. In June 2021, she obtained her Master's degree in instrumental music from the same university.[11][12][13]
She took part in auditions for The Voice of Poland several times.[14] She also performed in the Polish and British versions of Got Talent (Mam talent! and Britain's Got Talent), but did not achieve success in them.[15][16] She gained popularity by posting her original songs on YouTube and Periscope.[17][18] She started posting them in 2014 as Zuzia Jurczak.[19] The artist's first known original songs are: "It Is Right"[20] (performed in 2017 as "Alone"[18]), "Heartbreak", "I'm Stolen" and "Za mała". After she began working with Magic Records, she removed all previous songs from the service. She signed a music contract with Magic Records with the help of Andrzej Puczynski.[1] Her first public appearance was on Tedx Talks.[21]
In 2015 she got to the final gala of the 10th Festiwal Piosenki Dziecięcej i Młodzieżowej „Ten Ton” with the song "Poranne łzy".[22] Her performance was included in the album entitled Ten Ton – Piosenki Wojciecha Młynarskiego.[23][24] In 2015 she also performed at the Anna German Song Festival in Ciechocinek (there she performed the song "Jest taka droga")[25] and participated in the Blue Note Poznań Competition 2015, but did not win.[26][27]
On 28 February 2016, she played the violin at the Zenon Brzewski Graduation Concert.[28] Also in 2016 she qualified with the song "Rehab" to the semi-finals of the International Songwriting Competition in two categories: Pop/Top 40 and Unpublished.[29] As a single, the song was released on April 28, 2017 by Serio Records. Jurczak took the pseudonym Ayreen at the time.[30][31] It was the artist's only music release under this alias.[3] She then put her career on hold for one year.
In March 2019 (already as Sanah), she recorded the vocal parts in the song "Rich in Love" by Matt Dusk, which reached number one on the Spotify Viral Top50 list, and Dawid Podsiadło performed with her cover.[32] In September 2019, she released the single "Idź", which reached number one on New Music Poland's Vevo DSCVR playlist.[33][32] On October 11, she released a mini-album titled ja na imię niewidzialna mam,[34] which went to number three on the OLiS sales chart.[35]
In January 2020, she released the single "Szampan", with which she announced her premiere studio album.[36] Also in January, she was nominated in three categories for the music award "Fryderyk".[37] In May, she released an album entitled Królowa dram, which in the first week after its release reached the top of the OLiS sales list. On 10 May, she released a video as part of the #Hot16Challenge campaign, for which she was nominated by rapper Zeus.[38][39] On 6 September 2020, she performed at the National Festival of Polish Songs in Opole with her single "No sory", which heralded the singer's second mini-album entitled Bujda (released on 23 October 2020),[40][41][42] as well as the #NoSory Tour.[43] In October, she released a music video for the single "Pożal się Boże", which she used to promote the mini-album titled Bujda.[44][45] In the same month, she also released the single "Bujda",[46] the song "Duszki" and released the music video for the song "Oczy".[47] In December it was announced that she was the most-played artist in Poland in 2020 on Spotify,[48] moreover, she made a guest appearance in the final of the 11th edition of The Voice of Poland[49][50] with the songs "Szampan" and "No Sory".[51][52] On December 11, Sanah released the promotional single "Invisible Dress (Maro Music x Skytech Remix)". The song, apart from reaching number 6 on the AirPlay - Top chart, was also on many Polish radio charts.[53][54] It was also the first single of the artist, which achieved international success - it got to the list of iTunes streaming service in Italy.[55] In that country, it was played on more than 10 radio stations.[56] On 31 December 2020, her song "Szampan" won the annual New Year's Eve Hot 100 charts broadcast on Radio Eska.
On 14 January 2021, together with Vito Bambino, she released the single "Ale jazz!".[57][58] The song was also accompanied by a music video recorded at the Buffo Theatre, Warsaw and released on the same day.[59] On 31 January she performed at the 29th final of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity in Rawa Mazowiecka.[60][61] Also in 2021, she was nominated for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in the Favorite Polish Star category.[62] On February 9, she performed with Igor Walaszek at the 2020 Empik Bestsellers Gala, where she became a winner in the "Pop/Rock Music" category for her album Królowa dram. She was also nominated in the "Streaming" category with the songs "Szampan" and "Melodia" (the winner was Quebonafide with Daria Zawiałow and their single "Bubbletea").[63][64] The singer then released the single "2:00".[65] On April 23, she released "Heal Me", which is an English-language version of the song "Ale jazz!".[66] The single includes the original version of "Heal Me" and a remix performed by German DJ duo Lizot.[66] The song was accompanied by two music videos directed by Michał Pańszczyk: the original and the remix by the Lizot duo.[67][68] Irenka was also promoted by the singles "Etc. (at disco)", "Etc." and "Ten stan".[69][70] On May 7, 2021, the artist released her second studio album titled Irenka. The album got to the top of the OLiS list.[71][72] It also turned out to be the most purchased release in the 1st half of 2021 in all provinces according to the Empik store chain.[73][74] Music videos were made for all the songs except for "Warcaby". Already a day after the release of the album in the listing of the 200 most popular songs on Spotify, as many as 25 were occupied by Sanah's songs.[75] The same happened in the Apple Music list (23 out of 100 songs).[76] On 12 June Sanah's third mini-album Invisible EP was published only in vinyl format.[77] On 26 June she performed at Polsat SuperHit Festival 2021 with the songs "Szampan" and "No sory".[78] She was awarded the title "Best Debut of the Year" there.[79] On August 5, 2021 she performed at the Fryderyki 2021 Awards Gala with the song "2:00".[80][81] There she was nominated for 5 categories, of which she won in one: Pop Album of the Year.[82][83]
In August 2021 she took part in the promotional campaign "Wszystko mi mówi" by Tymbark.[84] As part of this project, together with Vito Bambino, the band Kwiat Jabłoni and Artur Rojek recorded a music video, in which they sing their versions of the song by Skaldowie titled "Wszystko mi mówi, że mnie ktoś pokochał".[85][86][87] Moreover, in the same month in radio stations her song "Ten stan" started to be played, which became the number 1 single in Poland.[88] On October 13, Sanah released the single "Cześć, jak się masz?" created in collaboration with rapper Sobel.[89] It was part of the Mastercard Music campaign.[90][91] A music video was created for the song, which during the first day reached one million views.[92] On October 31, Sanah embarked on her second tour: Kolońska i szlugi Tour. It promotes the album Irenka. As part of the tour, she will visit 7 cities.[93] At that time, she also released two singles: "Kolońska i szlugi" and another version of the same song - "Kolońska i szlugi (do snu)".[94][95] They were accompanied by a joint music video, directed by the artist and Michal Panszczyk.[96]
In 2022, the artist was nominated in two categories for Empik Bestsellers. She won in the category "Pop/rock music" with the album Irenka.[97] In addition, at the gala of this event, she performed the song "Kolońska i szlugi".[98][99]
Also this year, Sanah is set to go on her third tour, the Uczta Tour (also Uczta u sanah).[100] It will last from April to May this year.[100] On March 7, 2022 the single "Mamo tyś płakała" was published, which Sanah recorded together with Igor Herbut (vocalist of the band LemON).[101] The song was recorded for charity - 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Siemacha Association to help children - victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[102] The next single promoting the album Uczta was "Szary świat", recorded together with the band Kwiat Jabłoni and published on March 17.[103] The next singles were: "Czesława" with Natalia Grosiak, "Tęsknię sobie" with Artur Rojek, "Audi" with Miętha, "Sen we śnie" with Grzegorz Turnau, "Baczyński (Pisz do mnie listy)" with Ania Dąbrowska, "Eldorado" with Daria Zawiałow, and "oscar" with Vito Bambino.[104][105][106][107][108][109] The album was released on April 15, 2022.[110]
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
---|---|---|---|
POL [111] | |||
Królowa dram |
|
1 |
|
Irenka |
|
1 |
|
Uczta |
|
1 |
|
Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
POL [111] | ||
Ja na imię niewidzialna mam |
|
— |
Bujda |
|
27 |
Invisible EP |
|
— |
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POL [115] |
POL Songs [116] |
CIS [117] | ||||
Credited as Ayreen | ||||||
"Rehab" | 2017 | — | * | — | Non-album single | |
Credited as sanah | ||||||
"Cząstka" | 2019 | — | * | — |
|
Ja na imię niewidzialna mam |
"Siebie zapytasz" | — | — |
| |||
"Proszę pana" | — | — |
| |||
"Szampan" | 2020 | 1 | — |
|
Królowa dram | |
"Melodia" | 1 | 978 |
| |||
"Królowa dram" | — | — |
| |||
"No sory" | 1 | 970 |
|
Bujda | ||
"Pożal się Boże" | — | — |
| |||
"Bujda" | — | — |
| |||
"Ale jazz!" (with Vito Bambino) |
2021 | 1 | — |
|
Irenka | |
"2:00" | — | — |
| |||
"Etc. (na disco)" | 3 | — |
| |||
"Ten stan" | 1 | — |
| |||
"Cześć, jak się masz?"[upper-alpha 1] (with Sobel) |
1 | 24 | — |
| ||
"Kolońska i szlugi"[upper-alpha 2] | 3 | * | — |
| ||
"Mamo tyś płakała" (with Igor Herbut) |
2022 | — | 2 | — |
|
Uczta |
"Szary świat" (with Kwiat Jabłoni) |
1 | 1 | — |
| ||
"Czesława" (with Natalia Grosiak) |
— | 16 | — | |||
"Tęsknię sobie" (with Artur Rojek) |
— | 3 | — |
| ||
"Audi" (with Miętha) |
— | — | — | |||
"Sen we śnie" (with Grzegorz Turnau) |
— | 3 | — | |||
"Baczyński (Pisz do mnie listy)" (with Ania Dąbrowska) |
— | — | — | |||
"Eldorado" (with Daria Zawiałow) |
1 | 5 | — | |||
"Oscar" (with Vito Bambino) |
— | 20 | — | |||
"Ostatnia nadzieja" (with Dawid Podsiadło) |
1 | 3 | — | |||
"Święty Graal" (with ten Stan) |
— | — | — | |||
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. "*" denotes the chart did not exist at that time. |
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Rich in Love" (Matt Dusk featuring Sanah) |
2019 | Jet Set Jazz (Polish release) |
"Przyjdzie Panie zaginąć" (Polskie Znaki featuring Sanah) |
2021 | Rzeczy ostatnie |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|
POL [115] | ||||
"Bez słów" | 2019 | — |
|
Ja na imię niewidzialna mam |
"Solo" | — |
| ||
"Idź" | — |
| ||
"Aniołom szepnij to" | — |
| ||
"Projekt nieznajomy nie kłamie" | — |
|
Bujda | |
"Róże (demo w domu)" | 2020 | — |
| |
"No sory" (alternative version) |
— | |||
"Invisible Dress" (Maro Music x Skytech Remix) |
6 |
|
Invisible EP | |
"Heal Me" | 2021 | — | Non-album single | |
"Etc." | — |
|
Irenka | |
"Wszystko mi mówi, że mnie ktoś pokochał" | — | Non-album single | ||
"Kolońska i szlugi (do snu)" | — | Irenka | ||
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. |
Title | Year | Certifications | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"Koronki" | 2019 |
|
Ja na imię niewidzialna mam |
"To ja a nie inna" | 2020 |
|
Królowa dram |
"Łezki me" |
| ||
"Oto cała ja" |
| ||
"2/10" |
| ||
"Sama" |
| ||
"Oczy" |
|
Bujda | |
"Duszki" |
| ||
"Pora roku zła"[upper-alpha 3] |
|
Królowa dram | |
"Co ja robię tutaj" | 2021 |
|
Irenka |
"To koniec" |
| ||
"Irenka" |
|
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"Warszawa, ja i ty" | 2022 | Kwiat Jabłoni | Wolne serca |
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Fryderyk Awards | Debut of the Year | Herself | Nominated | [123] |
Alternative Pop Album of the Year | Ja na imię niewidzialna mam | Nominated | |||
Best New Performance | "Projekt nieznajomy nie kłamie" | Nominated | |||
2020 MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Polish Act | Herself | Nominated | [124] | |
2021 | Fryderyk Awards | Album of the Year – Pop | Królowa dram | Won | [125] |
Author of the Year | Herself | Nominated | |||
Composer of the Year | Herself | Nominated | |||
Song of the Year | "Szampan" | Nominated | |||
Video of the Year | "Szampan" | Nominated | |||
2021 MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Polish Act | Herself | Nominated | [126] | |
2022 | Fryderyk Awards | Album of the Year – Pop | Irenka | Won | [127] |
Female Artist of the Year | Herself | Nominated | |||
Author of the Year | Herself | Nominated | |||
Composer of the Year | Herself (with Jakub Galiński as a composer team) | Nominated | |||
Song of the Year | "Kolońska i Szlugi" | Nominated | |||
Video of the Year | "Kolońska i Szlugi" | Nominated |