Helly Luv

About Helly Luv

Helly Luv, born Helen Abdulla, is a Kurdish singer, dancer, actress and model known for high-energy pop videos that put Kurdish identity on the international stage. She was born on 16 November 1988 to an Iraqi Kurdish family that was fleeing war; most sources give her birthplace as Urmia in Iran. The family later settled in Finland, where she grew up singing in a choir, studying piano and drama, and competing as a dancer.

In 2006 she moved to Los Angeles to pursue music, building an audience through cover videos on Myspace and YouTube. Her breakout single Risk It All mixed Kurdish dance and imagery with modern pop. Its video, filmed mostly in Erbil, drew threats posted online and criticism at home. Her 2015 single Revolution was filmed over three months in a village about two miles from ISIS-held Mosul, and international media covered her as a pop star who would not be silenced.

As an actress she played the lead role of Leila in the Kurdish feature film Mardan (2014), directed by Batin Ghobadi, and appeared in Flag Without a Country (2015). She sings in Kurdish and English over Western pop production. Helly Luv is one of the most internationally visible figures of Kurdish pop and of the diaspora generation of Kurdish artists.

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