Ozone formed in Bucharest in 1999 with Dan Bălan, Radu Sârbu, and Arsenie Todiraș. They had a rough start with money and little attention, but kept at it. In 2004, they put out "Dragostea Din Tei," a song with a simple, sticky dance beat that somehow caught on everywhere. It ended up topping charts in dozens of countries and was the most-played track in Europe that year.
After that huge hit, things got complicated. Bălan left in 2007 to go solo, which made people wonder if the band was finished. There was also a plagiarism claim about "Dragostea Din Tei" that got tossed out. They kept making music anyway, releasing albums like "DiscOTzone" in 2005 and "12" in 2007. Other songs like "Crede-Ma" and "Dar Unde Esti" are part of their catalog, but nothing ever matched that first explosion.
The group's lineup shifted over time. By 2014, when they put out a self-titled album, Sârbu and Todiraș were still there, joined by drummer Mihai Albu. They're remembered mostly for one global earworm, a moment when a Romanian pop tune briefly owned the airwaves.
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