He is the founder of Moldovan Eurodance band O-Zone, and wrote their international hit single "Dragostea Din Tei", which topped the charts in 32 countries and sold 12 million copies worldwide.
[9] In an interview, he explained that he had never considered himself a heavy metal musician and instead identified as a producer with an interest in working with varying musical styles.
He started experimenting and exploring a new, commercial pop sound, and recorded and released his first solo song, "De la Mine", in 1998.
later that year and it became a commercial hit with seven of the album's ten songs reaching number one on the charts of the main radio stations in Moldova.
[13] The song became a commercial success and reached number one on Romania Airplay Top 100, where it stayed for seventeen consecutive weeks.
It sold more than 8 million copies worldwide,[17] receiving a gold and multi-platinum certification in most of the countries of Europe, Asia and Latin America.
[23] Later that year, the band unveiled their third album, DiscO-Zone, which became their best-selling release, certified gold and platinum in various countries.
[30] By late 2004, O-Zone released another single "De Ce Plang Chitarele", which was a cover of a song by the Moldovan band Noroc.
Commenting on their songs and style, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty wrote that they have "breathed fresh air into European Pop Music Scene.
[32] After O-Zone's break-up, Bălan started the eponymous rock group “Balan” and began working on new music.
These shifts led him to decide to release the music under the stage name Crazy Loop, an alter ego that contrasted with his real personality.
The track, a rock ballad called "Despre Tine Cant (Part 2)," dropped in Romania and Moldova and was accompanied by a music video directed by Greg Olive.
[40] Crazy Loop was nominated for Best Romanian Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards but lost to Morandi.
[41] Later in 2009, the singer re-released The Power of the Shower album as Crazy Loop Mix, an exclusive release with four new tracks, which included "Friday Night", "My Best Summer", "Judy's Love Line" and new single "Chica Bomb".
"Live Your Life" was certified 4× Platinum, with 4,532,000 copies sold in the U.S.[45] In 2009, his co-writing of the song lead to Bălan being nominated for a Grammy Award, the first and only Moldovan ever to do so.
The artist was chosen by Disney Channel Romania to sing the theme song from the series Brandy & Mr.
[46] Bălan's solo single "Chica Bomb" which featured vocals from American singer Katie DiCicco and production from Italian DJ Andrea Bertolini, was officially released in 2010.
The song became a hit in Europe and made it into the top ten charts in several European countries, including Germany,[47] Denmark, Austria,[48] Romania, Russia, Greece, and the U.K., where it reached No.
Nick Levine, from Britain's Digital Spy described "Chica Bomb" as "a sleek and reasonably sexy electro-house track with a nice bit of synthy bounce to it."
[55][56] Following the success of two consecutive singles reaching number one on the charts, Bălan decided to shift his focus to the Eastern European market.
In the summer of 2010 he recorded lyrical song "Lepestkami Slez", translated as “Petals of Tears”, as a duet with Vera Brezhneva, who he had met in New York.
[60] Bălan released a new English single, "Freedom", which featured American singer Corey Gibson and DJ Andrea Bertolini, in the spring of 2011.
[65] The singer selected Ada because he wanted a director with a very particular, photographic eye for composition and light, who could convey the natural beauty of the waking day and contrast it with the two lovers sharing their last morning together.
[67] The music video for the song was directed by Alan Badoev and starred Russian theater and film actress Ekaterina Vilkova.
The recordings featured the Symphony Orchestra of the British Musicians' Union, the London Community Gospel Choir, London Voices led by Terry Edwards and Ben Parry, as well as Massive Attack drummer Julien Brown, guitarist Seton Daunt, and percussionist Andy Duncan.
In contrast to Dan's previous work, "Domoy" was quite experimental, moving away from his typical style and appealing to an older audience.
[83] The singer admitted he wanted to take his songs to a new level after Lendo Calendo, and worked more than any other on the sound design for Funny Love.
Badoev decided on a theme of “do not be afraid of what is inside of you”, casting Bălan as a Pastor tempted by his desires, and filmed in a district of Los Angeles.
Bălan joked in an interview that this is "Old Moldavian", but the settled view is that the lyrics are written in a fictional language that combines elements of Spanish, Italian, Greek and Romanian.
In 2019, Dan Bălan created an audio and video production company Monarda Studios, that deals with managing and developing music artists and internet celebrities.