Edward Maya born Eduard Marian Ilie on June 29, 1986 is a Romanian DJ, performer and record producer of electronic dance music. Being raised in an environment that treasures the true artistic value of musicianship and revels in the mastering of instrumental skill, it was Edward's deep rooted love and passion for music that encouraged him to start his career as an international artist attending Bucharest's George Enescu Music High School. While continuing his studies at the Bucharest Conservatory, Edward Maya began writing songs, one of which became an entry in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, and collaborating with a number of Romania's leading producers, earning credits on different recordings. He become a successful producer in his own right with the work he put in the making of the romanian band Akcent album "No Tears" , which scored a number of hits in Europe like "Stay with Me", "That's My Name" and "Lover's Cry". Although he's only been in the public eye only since 2009, he crammed at least a decade's worth of career highs and lows into those few short, high-profile years. He came to prominence grace to his new and unique touch to the house music scene with the unmistakable accordion sounds that made him a global figure in clubs all over the world in only one year after the release of his first single as an artist in the summer of 2009 called "Stereo Love" featuring Russian DJ Vika Jigulina. The single entered the top 5 singles charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and The Sultanate of Oman and it was certified platinum in Canada, Denmark, Germany,Switzerland and double platinum in Spain. After accumulating over 115 million views on Youtube and making Edward Maya the first Romanian featured in the Top 20 Billboard Hot 100 as the single peaked at number 17, reaching the number one Dance Airplay single of 2010 in Billboard's Year End issue and the longest charting in the history of the European Top Hot 100 with a total of 52 weeks spent on charts it was time for "Stereo Love" to claim another milestone as the finalists for the 2011 Billboard Music Award were announced featuring Edward Maya besides Lady Gaga, Yolanda Be Cool & D Cup and La Roux in the Top Dance Song category as the only romanian song in the competition. It has also topped the Billboard Dance/Club Play at number 1 and became very popular in cities like New York City reaching #1 at various radio stations. In May 2010, Edward Maya released his follow-up single, "This Is My Life" featuring vocals from Vika Jigulina that quickly became an international hit being featured in the Romanian Top 100 and the European Hot 100 Singles charts and racking up almost 40 million views on YouTube as a result of the tremendous number of shows Edward Maya had in his "This Is My Life Tour" in countries like Brazil, Senegal, Dubai, Albania, India and many other where the Romanian music was still unknown. In recent years, Edward Maya's focus has shifted over many things, as the former music producer in now the proud owner of his own company “Mayavin Company” which includes a record label "Mayavin Records", a booking agency that represents artists as Ida Corr, Yolanda Be Cool, Steve Edwards, Chris Willis and others, and "Mayavin Store" an online store where you can find all Edward Maya’s songs, albums and fashion items, yet another big step further in his rising career. His contributions to the Romanian music industry have gained him numerous achievements, Edward Maya's lifelong devotion to music serving him well as he continues to improve his work and musical style with the release of his third single "Desert Rain" featuring Vika Jigulina on Christmas night worldwide, being his first single as an independent artist released under his own record label "Mayavin Records". The single spawned 8 million views on YouTube in only few months after release and reached number 1 in various radio stations charts all over the world. After the release of his third single Edward Maya announced the start of his "Desert Rain Tour" in January 2011 reaching an audience of over 150.000 people around the world and with sold out concerts in countries like USA, Ecuador, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, The United Arab Emirates and many more. Standing at the heart of his touring is Edward Maya's live act "The Stereo Love Show" starring him as a performer, DJ and accordionist along with his back-up guitarist and keyboardist vibrating to an award-winning mix of ancient romanian music and distinctive electronic beats. In the spring of 2011 Edward Maya launched the "Searching For Talents" campaign in collaboration with his record label Mayavin Records giving fans all over the world the chance to win an official record deal. Constantly searching to improve the relationship with his fans, Edward in collaboration with the Mayavin Records Team and the Mayavin Store made available for free download the remix versions of his major hits "Stereo Love" and "Desert Rain". For the rest of 2011 Edward Maya is planning the release of his first studio album "The Stereo Love Show" featuring all his major hits and some yet to be revealed collaborations with major international artists as the Romanian DJ, performer and record producer is searching to reach the pinnacle of his profession and he's approaching with very big steps. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.