Rita Ora
Rita Sahatçiu Ora (Albanian: [ˈɾita sahatˈtʃiu ˈɔɾa]; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to prominence in 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. Her debut studio album, Ora (2012), debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and produced the number-one singles, "R.I.P." and "How We Do (Party)". Ora was the artist with the most number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart in 2012, with three singles reaching the top position.[4]
Rita Ora
- United Kingdom
- Kosovo
- Singer
- songwriter
- television personality
- actress
2004–present
Besim Sahatçiu (grandfather)
Vocals
In 2014, Ora released the single "I Will Never Let You Down" and was featured on Iggy Azalea's "Black Widow", which became Ora's first top ten song on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, Ora was named an Honorary Ambassador of Kosovo in 2015. Her second studio album, Phoenix (2018), respectively produced the successful singles "Your Song", "Anywhere" and "Let You Love Me", the latter made Ora the first British female solo artist to have thirteen top ten songs in the United Kingdom. Her third studio album, You & I (2023), debuted at number 6 on the UK Albums Chart and was preceded by the lead single "You Only Love Me".
Ora has also served as a judge on television talent shows, including The X Factor (2015), The Masked Singer UK (2020–present) and The Masked Singer US (2024), as well as a coach on The Voice UK (2015) and The Voice Australia (2021–2023). As an actress, she played Mia Gray in the Fifty Shades film series (2015, 2017, 2018).
Early life
Ora was born on 26 November 1990 in Pristina, SFR Yugoslavia (modern-day Kosovo), to Albanian parents.[1][5] Her mother, Vera (née Bajraktari), is a psychiatrist and her father, Besnik Sahatçiu, is a pub owner, having previously studied economics.[6] Ora has an older sister, Elena, and a younger brother, Don. She was born as Rita Sahatçiu (surname derived from the Turkish word saatçi, which means "watchmaker"), but her parents later added Ora (ora means "time" in Albanian) to the family surname so it could be easily pronounced.[7][8]
Her family left Kosovo for political reasons, due to persecution of Albanians initiated with the disintegration of Yugoslavia.[9] They relocated to London, England in 1991, when Ora was a baby.[6] She grew up in Notting Hill, in West London,[10] and attended a performing arts school, Sylvia Young Theatre School.[11]
Music career
2008–2011: Career beginnings
Ora began performing at open mic sessions around London and, occasionally, in her father's pub.[12] In 2008, she auditioned for Eurovision: Your Country Needs You on BBC One to be the British contestant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 and qualified, but later withdrew from the competition after a few episodes as she "did not feel ready" and thought "that challenge wasn't for her."[13][14] Her manager, Sarah Stennett (who also worked with Ellie Goulding, Jessie J and Conor Maynard), later told HitQuarters that she reassured Ora that performing in Eurovision would hinder, rather than help her chances to make it as a solo artist.[15]
Shortly after, Ora's management got in touch with the American label, Roc Nation, and told them about her. Ora signed a recording deal and a publishing deal with Roc Nation in December 2008, and was one of their first signees.[15][16][17] She made a cameo appearance in Jay Z's video for "Young Forever" (2009).[18] After being signed, Ora recorded an album and wanted to release it, but her label advised against it and she started to work on other material for her debut album.[12]
Other ventures
Acting
An appearance in an episode of the British drama series, The Brief, was her first television role, at age 13. Shortly after, she appeared in the British film, Spivs (2004). In April 2014, Ora appeared alongside Korean popstar, Hyuna, in an episode of Funny or Die called "Girl, You Better Walk."[66] In 2015, she played Christian Grey's sister, Mia, in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey, a role she later reprised in the film's two sequels.[67][68][3] Ora originally approached the production hoping to contribute to the film's soundtrack and instead was asked to audition for the role of Mia Grey by the director of the film, Sam Taylor-Johnson.[69][70] In the 2021 film Twist, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Ora played the Artful Dodger.[71]
In February 2022, she was announced to act in the Disney+ prequel – an eight-episode limited series – to the 2017 film, Beauty and The Beast, in a role described as a "fugitive with surprising abilities who carries with her a secret that could potentially affect an entire kingdom", but the project has been put on hold indefinitely.[72][73][74]
Design
In January 2014, Adidas announced a multi-year designer collaboration with Ora for their brand of casual sports clothing, Adidas Originals.[75][76] Ora designed her own apparel collections for the brand, including footwear and accessories.[77][78] In 2016, she collaborated with Italian fashion brand, Tezenis, on a capsule lingerie collection.[79][80] In 2018, Ora co-designed a shoe collection with the Italian footwear designer, Giuseppe Zanotti.[81][82][83] After appearing as the face of Escada, Ora co-designed a capsule collection with the brand in 2019.[84] In September 2023, the Dublin-based retailer, Primark, announced a multi-season fashion collaboration with Ora.[85][86] The first collection, co-designed by Ora, consisted of 169 pieces across knitwear, denim, tailoring and outerwear, along with shoes and accessories.[87][88]
Endorsements
In 2010, Ora featured in a commercial for Skullcandy headphones.[89] In 2011, she appeared in Calvin Klein's CK One campaign.[90][91] In 2013, she was the face of Italian sneaker brand, Superga, and the face of Material Girl, a clothing line designed by Madonna.[92][93] In September 2013, cosmetics brand, Rimmel, announced their collaboration with Ora for makeup collections.[94][95] She was the face of two Donna Karan 2014 collections, Resort collection and Autumn/Winter collection.[96][97][98] She was also the face of the label's fragrance, DKNY My NY, inspired by New York City.[99] In March 2014, Ora was one of the cast members of Marks & Spencer's "Leading Ladies" campaign.[100][101] Later in 2014, she appeared as the face of Roberto Cavalli Autumn/Winter campaign.[102][103] In 2015, she appeared in Coca-Cola and Samsung Galaxy S6 advertising campaigns.[104][105] In 2019, she was the face of several German brands; luxury fashion label, Escada, jewellery company, Thomas Sabo, and footwear retailer, Deichmann.[106][107][108][109] Ora appeared in "London After Hours" campaign for Pepe Jeans in 2023.[110]
Television
In 2015, she was a coach on the fourth series of The Voice UK on BBC One, replacing Kylie Minogue.[111] The same year, it was confirmed that Ora and BBC Radio 1 presenter, Nick Grimshaw, signed as judges for the twelfth series of The X Factor on the rival TV network, ITV, after a bidding war between The X Factor and The Voice UK.[112] She hosted the BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards, alongside Grimshaw, several times (from 2013 to 2017).[113][114]
In July 2016, Tyra Banks, the creator of America's Next Top Model, announced that Ora would replace her as host of the revamped show which aired on VH1.[115] In September 2019, Ora was announced as a judge for the UK version of the music game show, The Masked Singer, which aired on ITV in January 2020.[116] From 2021 to 2023, Ora was a coach on The Voice Australia.[117][118]
In September 2023, Fox announced that Ora will join the American version of The Masked Singer during season 11.[119]
Ora hosted the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards on 12 November in London, at Wembley Arena.[120][121] Ora hosted the award show again, in 2022, with Taika Waititi, on 13 November in Düsseldorf, Germany.[122][123]
Philanthropy
On 23 March 2013, Ora performed at Bal de la Rose du Rocher in Monte Carlo in aid of the Princess Grace Foundation.[124] On 1 June 2013, Ora performed at the "Chime for Change" charity concert at Twickenham Stadium, London, which raised funds and awareness for girls' and women's issues around the world.[125]
On 15 November 2014, Ora joined the charity group Band Aid 30 to record a version of the track, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", to raise money for the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa.[126] On 9 March 2016, she gave a speech on immigration and the Syrian refugee crisis at the We Day UK event in London, organised by Free the Children.[127] In April 2019, she became one of UNICEF UK's ambassadors.[128][129]
Personal life
Ora's mother is Catholic and her father is a nominal Muslim.[6] She considers herself spiritual but not religious.[130]
Her maternal grandfather, Osman Bajraktari, was the Albanian consul to Russia (then part of the Soviet Union).[131][132] Ora's paternal grandfather, Besim Sahatçiu, was a film and theatre director.[12][133] She speaks Albanian.[134]
On 10 July 2015, Ora was named an Honorary Ambassador of Kosovo by then-president, Atifete Jahjaga, at the Embassy of Kosovo in London.[135][136] Ora, who was joined at the ceremony by her parents, and former British Prime Minister and his wife, Tony and Cherie Blair, stated she was "overwhelmed" by the honour.[135][137]
Ora dated Scottish DJ Calvin Harris from 2013 until June 2014.[138] In 2016, Ora began a relationship with American musician Andrew Watt. They were together for two years until September 2018. They got back together in January 2019, but broke up for the second time in October 2019.[139] Since 2021, she has been in a relationship with New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi.[140] They got married in August 2022.[141][142][143]
In November 2020, Ora broke the COVID-19 restrictions by having her birthday party at a West London restaurant during a period of national lockdown.[144][145] Ora had recently returned from Egypt and was supposed to be isolating for 14 days as a result. According to the police, Ora's security offered to pay the venue £5,000 to break guidelines and asked for CCTV cameras to be switched off.[146] The restaurant's representative denied that such payment was made.[147] Ora apologised for the breach and was fined £10,000.[148]
Headlining
Supporting
