Before she topped the dance charts with the group
iiO and their club hit "Rapture," singer/songwriter Nadia Ali was discovered by singing at the office Christmas party. The office just happened to be Versace's New York City headquarters, where a colleague introduced her to producer Markus Moser, with whom she formed
iiO in 2001. "Rapture" would be released that same year, with a series of follow-up singles taking the group to 2005 and their debut album, Poetica. Ali officially left the group immediately after the album landed, although with plenty of unreleased material recorded, Moser would continue to release new
iiO tracks featuring Ali's vocals, including the 2006 club hit "Is This Love?" Her solo career would officially launch in 2005 with an appearance on
Armin van Buuren's album Shivers, while 2006 saw her working for John Creamer & Stephane K, recording the duet "Something to Lose" for the production duo along with singer Rosko. In 2008 she released the solo single "Crash and Burn," with "Love Story" following in 2009. Her debut album, Embers, also arrived in 2009, with the remix collection Queen of Clubs landing a year later. In 2012 she was featured on
Starkillers' hit track "Keep It Coming," while 2013 saw her join
Arty and
BT on the single "Must Be the Love." A year later she returned to her career as a lead artist and released an acoustic version of
the Police's "Roxanne." ~ David Jeffries