Rita Ora

Biography

Rita Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu, 26 November 1990, Pristina, SFR Yugoslavia, now Kosovo) is a British singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress of Albanian descent. Her parents are Vera Bajraktari, a psychiatrist, and Besnik Sahatçiu, a pub owner; the family moved to the United Kingdom when she was one year old, and she grew up in West London. She attended Sylvia Young Theatre School before signing with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2008. She rose to prominence in 2012 with DJ Fresh's "Hot Right Now," which topped the UK singles chart, and released her debut album Ora that same year, which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. She has served as a judge on The X Factor UK (2015), a coach on The Voice UK (2015) and The Voice Australia (2021–2023), and a panelist on The Masked Singer UK (2020–2024) and The Masked Singer US (2024–present). She married New Zealand director Taika Waititi in 2022. Her notable film credits include Spivs (2004) (James Purefoy, David Morrissey), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) (Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan), Southpaw (2015) (Jake Gyllenhaal, Oona Laurence), Fifty Shades Darker (2017) (Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan), Fifty Shades Freed (2018) (Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan), Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019) (Ryan Reynolds, Susan Sarandon), Twist (2021) (Dane DeHaan, Michaela McManus), Wonderwell (2023) (Giancarlo Esposito, Michaela McManus), Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024) (Kylie Cantrall, Brandy), Tin Soldier (2025) (Robert De Niro, Jamie Foxx), and Descendants: Wicked Wonderland (2026) (Kylie Cantrall, Brandy). She has upcoming roles in He Bled Neon (2026), Voltron (2027) (Henry Cavill, Sterling K. Brown), and Honeymoon with Harry (2027) (Kevin Costner, Jake Gyllenhaal).