It was written by band founder Dan Balan and produced by Bogdan Popoiag [ro], with the latter eventually initiating an unsuccessful lawsuit where he claimed that his alleged contribution as a songwriter had remained uncredited.

Among others, it was certified diamond by the French Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (SNEP) and quadruple million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).

Multiple observers have opined that the song's international success was fueled by a dance cover released by Italy-based Romanian singer Haiducii in December 2003 by Universo.

Featuring him sitting in a chair in front of his computer and dancing to "Dragostea din tei" in a cheerful manner, the clip went viral, with it standing as one of the most-viewed internet videos of all time and consolidating the song's status as a meme.

The original "Dragostea din tei" was accompanied by a music video directed by Dmitri Voloshin, which mainly sees the members of O-Zone in the cockpit of a plane, as well as dancing to the song inside it and on one of its wings.

In the United States, Balan appeared on Today to sing "Ma Ya Hi",[B] an English language-version of "Dragostea din tei" released exclusively to that region as a collaboration between him and American musician Lucas Prata.

In 2002, the band, which consisted of founder Dan Balan, Radu Sîrbu and Arsenie Todiraș, moved to Romania where they found success with their singles "Numai tu" and "Despre tine".

[2] Around September 2004, Popoiag filed a lawsuit against Balan and Media Services, the label that signed O-Zone, at the Bucharest Court [ro], claiming that he had not received credit for his alleged contribution as a composer of the song.

[22][23] "Dragostea din tei" was first released as the lead single from O-Zone's third studio album DiscO-Zone (2003) in Romania by local label Media Services.

[8][25] Mentions of "Dragostea din tei" in Romanian media date back to at least July 2003,[1] and its copyright was legally registered in the region [ro] in August 2003.

[36] Also in 2004, Ultra Records issued two 12-inch vinyls in the United States that included "Ma Ya Hi",[B] an English language-version of "Dragostea din tei" featuring American musician Lucas Prata.

[40] The original Romanian version of the song was digitally released in the United States on 22 June 2004 by Media Services, under the name of "Mai Ai Hee (Dragostea din tei)".

[13] "Dragostea din tei" is a 1980s-inspired[43] dance-pop,[3] synth-pop,[4] Eurodisco,[5] and Europop song,[6][7] whose instrumentation features synthesized bass and what Rolling Stone Australia described as "robotic stop-start rhythms".

[41] Music critics have praised the catchy nature of "Dragostea din tei", with The Believer's Wolk writing that "[t]here's scarcely a second without some extraordinary hook, starting with the wordless keening at the beginning".

[41][51][55] The Believer's Wolk concluded that the song had a refrain "as big as an abandoned government building" which allowed "huge legions of drunk people [to] sing easily [to]".

[93] In his book The Click Moment: Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World, Frans Johansson attributed the song's mediocre performance in the United States to Ultra Records not having "the experience or resources to successfully market [it]", further noting that "Dragostea din tei" had been released there "at a time when techno-based club tracks were ebbing in popularity [...] [and] airwaves were dominated by R&B and hip-hop".

According to Johansson, the song's resulting poor sales and radio performance were the reasons for Ultra Records pulling back all promotional efforts and cancelling plans to tour the United States.

[41][96] Wren Graves of Consequence elaborated: "At times he is almost still, holding his mouth open wide or punctuating a musical moment with a perfectly-timed raised eyebrow.

[111] In 2005, the group sang the track on shows in Japan, including on Music Station and SMAPxSMAP,[35] and Balan also appeared with Prata to sing "Ma Ya Hi" on Today in the United States.

[124] Paul Sexton of Billboard wrote how "Dragostea din tei" served as a "reminder of music's power to connect across borders", further noting that it "managed to convey uninhibited joy better than any phrase in the English language probably could".

[52] Minto further regards "Dragostea din tei" as a precursor to modern virality, writing that "[t]he cultural diffusion of the song – and its mutation into a 'catchphrase' – can be placed at a point of transition between [Los del Río's 1993 single] 'Macarena' – which exploded in a pre-mass internet era – and 'Gangnam Style' – which instead blossomed on the now high crests of global social networks".

[135] In 2024, French DJ David Guetta and American band OneRepublic interpolated "Dragostea din tei" on their single "I Don't Wanna Wait", which reached the top 20 in multiple territories including Germany and the United Kingdom.

[139][140][141] The original or alternative versions of "Dragostea din tei" have been used in multiple films, including in Chicken Little (2005) for a reported payment of one million US$,[142] Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005),[114] Happy Feet Two (2011),[143] and It's Only the End of the World (2016),[128] as well as throughout the telenovela Triunfo del amor (2010–2011),[144] and the series Stargate Universe (2009–2011).

Italy-based Romanian singer Paula Monica Mitrache recorded a cover of "Dragostea din tei" after having been advised to do so by her label Universo,[272][273] although she had initially opposed to the idea.

[273] The cover was produced and mixed by Max Minoia at MM Studio in Rome, Italy,[274] and features uncredited vocals by Italian singer Vittorio Centrone, who notably provides the "Ma-ia-hii, Ma-ia-huu, Ma-ia-hoo, Ma-ia-haha" sequence.

[275][276] This dance version was reframed as a conversation between a man and a woman, which Francesco Gerardi of Rivista Studio likened to "Buonasera dottore [it]" (1974) by Italian singer Claudia Mori.

[288][289] In several territories, Haiducii's version of "Dragostea din tei" impacted the charts before O-Zone's original, including in Germany,[69][291] Italy,[65][292] Spain,[66][293] and France.

[123][317][318] Rivista Studio's Gerardi wrote: "[In 2003, 'Dragostea din tei' by O-Zone] had achieved a fair amount of success in Romania and Moldova, only to then be forgotten along with many of the things that happen in the summer.

[...] [After Haiducii's success, Balan] called all the people he knew in the music industry to find one who would reissue [the original] 'Dragostea din tei' and give the single global distribution".

[320] In 2019, Haiducii and Catholic pastor Don Allessandrou Cosu published "Parliamo di Gesú" ("Let's Talk About Jesus") on YouTube,[309] which is an alternate version of "Dragostea din tei" with rewritten religious lyrics.