# Edward Maya

Eduard Marian Ilie (Romanian pronunciation:; born 29 June 1986), better known by his stage name Edward Maya, is a Romanian musician, record producer, DJ, singer and songwriter. He is known for his 2009 smash hit single "Stereo Love".

## Career

In and around 2006, Maya worked with many other Romanian artists such as Akcent and Vika Jigulina. He also worked on the song Tornerò, which was performed by Mihai Trăistariu in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. He added in an interview on Beat-Town.com that this song "was the beginning of my career"
In the summer of 2009, Maya launched his first song as an artist, "Stereo Love", reaching No. 2 in the Romanian singles charts. Later that year, "Stereo Love" became an international hit in clubs. While this success was followed by concerts worldwide, the song entered the top-5 singles charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. "Stereo Love" has received over 629 million YouTube views as of August 2024.
On 13 May 2010, Maya released his second single "This Is My Life". To help maintain control of his career and provide opportunities for other artists, Maya has formed his own record label, Mayavin Records.
Maya released the song and video for his third single "Desert Rain" on Christmas night worldwide. In an interviewm Maya talked about his Desert Rain tour, where he mentioned he would begin in India and later Europe, the US, South Africa and Pakistan. His fourth single "Mono in Love" was released on 29 November 2012 also featuring Vika Jigulina.
He graduated from George Enescu Music High School in Bucharest and is currently a final year student at the Bucharest Conservatory.
Maya was chosen to dub Grug's voice in the animated movie Onward.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums :
| Title | Album details |
| The Stereo Love Show | Released: 3 December 2013 Label: Mayavin Records Formats: Digital download |
| Angels | Released: 4 November 2014 Label: Mayavin Records Formats: Digital download |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | BEL | CAN | FRA | IRE | NLD | POR | SPA | SWE | SWI | UK | US | Certifications | Album |
| "Stereo Love" (with Vika Jigulina or Mia Martina) | 2009 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 16 | BEA: Gold MC: 2× Platinum BVMI: 2× Platinum PROMUSICAE: 2× Platinum GLF: 7× Platinum IFPI SWI: Platinum BPI: 2× Platinum RIAA: 2× Platinum | The Stereo Love Show / Devotion |
| "This Is My Life" (featuring Vika Jigulina) | 2009 | 12 | — | 2 | — | 42 | 7 | — | 58 | 43 | — | — | GLF: Platinum | The Stereo Love Show / Devotion |
| "Desert Rain" (featuring Vika Jigulina) | 2010 | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| "Mono in Love" (featuring Vika Jigulina) | 2012 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | The Stereo Love Show |
| "Feeling" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Colombian Girl" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Love of My Life" (with Vika Jigulina) | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Historia de Amor" | 2014 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Universal Love" (featuring Andrea and Costi Ioniţă) | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Harem" (featuring Emilia and Costi Ioniţă) | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Sunny Days" (featuring United People) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Holding On" (featuring Sleeping Muse and Violet Light) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Be Free" (featuring Vika Jigulina) | 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Simply The Best" (featuring Violet Light) | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "The Show Must Go On" (featuring Violet Light) | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Live Alive" (with Avalok and Violet Light) | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Feel Your Love" (with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Timmy Trumpet) | 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "In My Dreams" (featuring Violet Light) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "I'm In Love" (featuring Eliza and Avalok) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "I Found You" (featuring Eliza and Avalok) | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |||||||||||||||

## Copyright controversy

In the autumn of 2009, during his stay in Greece, Azerbaijani composer Eldar Mansurov heard the song "Stereo Love" and contacted the Romanian Police, claiming the melody in the chorus was taken from his popular 1989 composition "Bayatılar". In the music video, the composer of "Stereo Love" was only listed as anonymous. The office confirmed with Edward Maya that he had in fact copied Mansurov's work. He admitted to have been fascinated by an accordion version of "Bayatılar" which he had come across online in early 2009 and claimed to have tried to contact the author but had been unable to due to his busy schedule. On 19 January 2010, Edward Maya signed an agreement with Eldar Mansurov in Baku, Azerbaijan, confirming their co-authorship of "Stereo Love".