Eugent Bushpepa

Eugent Bushpepa
Bushpepa in 2020
Background information
Also known as	Gent Bushpepa
Born	(1984-07-02) 2 July 1984 (age 40) Rrëshen, Albania
Genres	Hard rock, industrial metal, alternative metal, pop rock
Occupations	Singer songwriter composer
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Independent

Eugent Bushpepa (Albanian pronunciation: [ɛuˈɡɛnt buʃˈpɛpa]; born 2 July 1984), also known by his alternative name Gent Bushpepa, is an Albanian singer, songwriter and composer.^[1] Regarded as one of the most popular modern rock musicians in the Albanian-speaking world, he is noted for his vocal range, vocal power, high-energy live performances, and is also recognised as an accomplished guitarist.

Bushpepa and his band were the supporting acts on the concert tours of Deep Purple in 2007, Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses) in 2011 and Overkill in 2014. On 18 August 2013, he performed a full concert with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.^[2] Bushpepa is the sole author of his song which was reworked for the Eurovision by Jim Lowe, a Grammy Award-winning British record producer and audio engineer.

In 2017, Bushpepa won the 56th edition of Festivali i Këngës with the song "Mall" and went on to represent Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon.^[3] He reached eleventh place in the grand final in a field of twenty-six and achieved the country's third highest placement to date.^[4]

Life and career

Eugent Bushpepa was born on 2 July 1984 into an Albanian family of the Roman Catholic faith in the town of Rrëshen, then part of the People's Republic of Albania, present Albania.^[1][5] He started singing at the age of six while his guitar training began in the fifth grade of primary school. After finishing high school, he moved to Bologna, Italy, to study medicine where he completed his first academic year.

Clockwise from upper left: Bushpepa has opened for Deep Purple in 2007, Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses) in 2011, Overkill in 2014, and has performed with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal in 2013.

Bushpepa's professional career began in 2006 and since then he has been active in the Albanian music scene. His national breakthrough came with the song "Maska e Madhështisë", released in 2007 at Top Fest 4. In the same competition, he also teamed up with a rock band called Sunrise, performing their song Engjëll, and then he went on to play in major music festivals and worked on new music. Although Eugent made his professional stage debut in Kënga Magjike at the age of fourteen, his music career was jump-started upon his return to Albania in 2006 where he was set to pursue a medical degree in dentistry and started to perform live shows in various night clubs and pubs alongside studies. Writing and performing his own material, Bushpepa had also made various live covers and appeared in over 2000 live shows since his beginnings.^[6]

He was asked to become the supporting act for Duff McKagan for a concert in Tirana^[7][8] on their Loaded band tour on 1 June 2011. During a traditional beer festival in Korçë on 18 August 2013, Bushpepa performed with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, the guitarist of Guns N' Roses.^[9][10] In 2014, he joined the band Darkology as their tour vocalist.,^[11] replacing Kelly Sundown Carpenter in their Killfest tour with Overkill, Prong, and Enforcer who performed in various cities in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands.^[12]

In early to mid 2017, Bushpepa had signed on as an adviser in The Voice of Albania, assisting Besa's team, whereas on 24 December 2017, he won the 56th edition of Festivali i Këngës, the longest-running annual televised music competition in Albania since 1962, and thus represented Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal with his song "Mall".^[13][14]

Eugent Bushpepa performing during a rehearsal before the grand final.

In December 2017, Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) announced him as the Albanian representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, after he won the 56th edition of Festivali i Këngës with his song "Mall".^[15][16]

The Eurovision version was reworked by Bushpepa and Jim Lowe, a Grammy Award-winning audio engineer, and was released through Universal Music on 16 April.^[17] Bushpepa's promotional tour in London and Tel Aviv were postponed due to visa delays,^[18] but he resumed the tour in Amsterdam and Madrid that advanced with great success.^[19][20] Albania was drawn to compete third at the first-semi final in which Bushpepa performed "Mall" third in a field of nineteen participants and qualified for the Grand Final being among the top ten most-voted acts.^[21] In the final, the song was performed twelfth in a field of twenty-six and ranked seventh with the juries and eleventh with a combined televote score.

In 2023, Bushpepa started a podcast called "Garage Lock", a collaboration with fellow rock vocalist Renis Gjoka. The duo delves into the world of spoken dialogue and candid conversations engaging with guests from various walks of life.^[22]

Discography

Bushpepa has released no album to date; though he deems himself as a "non-commercial artist" and stated that he is working on his debut album following requests from his fans.

Singles

As lead artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		ALB [23]
"Maska e madhështisë"	2007	—	Non-album singles
"Engjëll"
"Ëndërr reale" (featuring Gled Mikerezi)	2008
"S'jam Baladë" (featuring Rovena Dilo)
"Stinë dreqi"	2009
"Rebel pa hije"	2011		Break The Darkness
"Udhëtari"	2012		Non-album singles
"Viktimë"	2013
"Pranë finishit"	2015
"Mall"	2018
"Stay with Me Tonight"	2020	1
"Cùll të Hutù"	2021	—	Break The Darkness
"I imi Flokë Argjend"	2021
"Ego" (featuring Bojken Lako and Erdion Hoxha)	2021
"Koha Ndryshk"	2021
"Rezisto" (featuring Renis Gjoka)	2023		Non-album singles
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Awards

Top Fest

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2008	"Ëndërr reale"	Best Male Singer	Won
2009	"Stinë dreqi"	Vodafone Club Award	Won
2011	"Rebel pa hije"	Best Male Singer	Won
2015	"Pranë finishit"	Honorific Award	Won
2017	"Mall"	Festivali i 56 i Këngës	Won
2018	"Mall"	Eurovision Song Contest	11th Place

See also

• Festivali i Këngës 56
• Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

References

1. "Eugent Bushpepa". teksteshqip.com (in Albanian). Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
2. "U.S. Embassy in Tirana: Report on Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and Eugent Bushpepa's Concert in Albania". U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania. 20 August 2013. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
3. Eugent Bushpepa – Mall – Albania – LIVE – Grand Final – Eurovision 2018, 12 May 2018, retrieved 25 April 2021
4. "Lisbon 2018: Grand Final". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
5. "Lisbon 2018: Participants". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
6. "Exclusive Interview with Eugent Bushpepa on TCH". YouTube (in Albanian). 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
7. "Guns 'N Roses bassist to give concert in Tirana". Tirana Times. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
8. "Eugent Bushpepa & Duff McKagan – 2011". Eugent Bushpepa Official. 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
9. "The HDI: Bumblefoot in Albania". Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
10. "Eugent Bushpepa Performing with Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Guns N' Roses)". Eugent Bushpepa Official. Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
11. "GrandeRock.com Darkology announces new line-up for tour 2014". Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
12. "Darkology Leak Songs from Upcoming Album – Lineaup Changes for Overkill Tour Announced". BraveWords.com. 23 October 2014. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
13. "Eugent Bushpepa to represent Albania at Eurovision 2018". eurovision.tv. 23 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
14. "Eugent Bushpepa representará a Albania en el Festival de Eurovisión 2018 con "Mall"". MSN.com. 29 December 2018. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
15. "Eugent Bushpepa me "Mall" shpallet fitues i Fest '56". rtsh.al (in Albanian). Radio Televizioni Shqiptar. 24 December 2017. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
16. "Eugent Bushpepa to represent Albania at Eurovision 2018!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 24 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
17. Adams, William (16 March 2018). "Albania: Eugent Bushpepa releases Eurovision version of "Mall"". Wiwibloggs.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
18. Royston, Benny (8 April 2018). "Eugent Bushpepa Cancels Promotional Tour". Eurovoix.com.
19. Royston, Benny (15 April 2018). "Finland, Israel, Australia, Spain, Albania and UK all impress at Eurovision In Concert". Metro.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
20. Taylor, Richard (14 April 2018). "Eugent Bushpepa Back On Promotional Tour". EurovisionIreland.net. Archived from the original on 29 July 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
21. "First Semi-Final: 10 Acts Qualify For Eurovision 2018 Grand Final". The Official Website of the Eurovision Song Contest – Eurovision.tv. 8 May 2018. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
22. "Garage Lock Music - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
23. Note: "The Top List" are the charts conducted by Top Channel since December 2015. For peak positions in Albania:
    • For "Stay with me Tonight":"The Top List – 16 February 2020" (in Albanian). Top Channel. 16 February 2020. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.

External links

• Media related to Eugent Bushpepa at Wikimedia Commons

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Lindita with "World"	Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018	Succeeded by Jonida Maliqi with "Ktheju tokës"