Preslava

Biography

Preslava Koleva Ivanova (born Petya Koleva Ivanova, on 26 June 1984), better known mononymously as Preslava, is a Bulgarian singer. She is considered one of the key names in Bulgarian contemporary music, and has won more than 60 awards since her debut in 2004. As of 2025, she has won the Bulgarian Singer of the Year award 13 times since the start of her music career in 2005.

Early life (1984–2003)

Petya Koleva Ivanova was born on June 26, 1984, in Dobrich, Bulgaria. Her mother, Yanka Toncheva was a seamstress. Her father, Kolyo Tonchev, was a worldwide race car driver. Ivanova has an older sister named Ivelina who is a folk singer. She sang her first song when she was 7 years old. Despite her parents disapproval, she started singing in nightclubs aged 15. She completed her musical education with the specialty 'folk singing' with Gadulka speciality.

Career beings and Preslava (2004)

During the winter of 2004 a prominent singer from the music company Payner, Milko Kalaidjiev asked her to perform with his group for a few events. Impressed by her excessive talent, he helped her to become a part of the company. In the beginning of 2004 she released her first song, "Nezhen reket" which was a duet with Milko Kalaidjiev. In 2004, she picked a stage name – Preslava and changed her creative direction. Instead of typical pop folk, her later songs such as "Duma za vyarnost", "Tazi nosht bezumna" and "Mili moy" were more modern sounding. They were part of her debut album, Preslava, released in December. It featured 16 songs in total. The record was received very well. It won the "Album of the Year" award in Nov Folk Magazine''s Annual Awards of 2004. In the same ceremony, Preslava won the "Founding and Debut of the year" award. In the Annual Music Awards of Planeta TV of 2004, she won awards for "Debut of the year" and "Most prosperous performer of the year". She built the Zetiova cheshma in Mramor in 2003.

Dyavolsko Zhelanie and Intriga (2005–2006)

In the span of April to June 2005, two new singles, "Dyavolsko zhelanie" and "Zavinagi tvoya" were released. Both of them were very positively received, especially "Dyavolsko zhelanie" which won the "Hit of the Year" award in Planeta TV's Annual Music Awards of 2005. Preslava was among the artists of Planeta TV's Summer Tour for first time in her career. In November she released her second album, Dyavolsko zhelanie. A new single with a music video, "Finalni dumi" was dropped within the same month. In Nov Folk's Annual Awards of 2005 Preslava won the "Most Prosperous Performer" award. In April 2006 a new single, "I kogato samne" was released. It won song of the year award in the Annual Music Awards of Planeta TV of 2006 and Nov Folk Magazine's Annual Awards of 2006. Preslava was again part of the Planeta TV's Summer Tour. Within the end of year two new singles, "Zaklevam te" and "Lazha e" were released, alongside her third studio album Intriga. "Lazha e" was the first rock song she ever recorded.

Personal life

Since late 2017, she has been in a relationship with the Bulgarian businessman Pavel Lazarov. On September 14, 2018, she gave birth to a baby girl, Paola.