Tudor (Fly Project)

Tudor Ionescu is a Romanian singer, songwriter, producer and radio host, best known as the central figure of the project Fly Project. He was born on 3 November 1979 in Brașov, Romania. As a child, he first grew up in Aiud, then moved back to Brașov at around age 11, a period he describes as formative both personally and musically. He developed an early passion for music, collected cassettes, and entered a music high school after his family settled in Brașov.

Before fame, he built hands-on experience through local media. As a teenager and young adult, he pushed to work in radio in Brașov, got into a local outlet largely through personal initiative, and eventually did voice work, production and on-air hosting. He has said radio was his real “music school”, because it allowed him to listen to, compare and understand many different styles, shaping the eclectic musical culture that later fed his artistic identity.

Fly Project began in 2005, founded by Tudor Ionescu and Dan Deneș. The initial concept was a MC-DJ duo to entertain events and student parties. Noticing that artists with their own hit songs were paid better, they decided to create their own tracks. The name Fly Project refers both to the idea of a musical “project” and to their first track, Fly. Their first major success, Raisa, immediately entered Romanian charts and positioned Ionescu as one of the new faces of Romania’s Dance scene.

After that start, the project released a run of popular songs between Dance and Pop, with festive and Latin-leaning influences. Tracks often highlighted include Raisa, Brasil, Mandala, Goodbye, Musica, Back in My Life and especially Toca Toca. Brasil gained strong exposure in multiple countries, and Fly Project were nominated at the MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Romanian Act.

The major international turning point came with Toca Toca, the biggest global phenomenon associated with Fly Project. During the song’s viral resurgence—particularly through social media and TikTok—Tudor Ionescu received a Double Platinum award in 2023 from Roton Music for the track’s worldwide performance. The song is presented as the project’s signature title, revived ten years after its release by a new viral wave that took off in Asia before spreading worldwide.

Over the years, Ionescu has also established himself as a creator and producer. He is described as an active producer within Fly Records, a structure/studio developed with Dan Deneș. He has also spoken about how important his collaboration with musician Anca Parghel was for him: she reinforced the idea that a strong track doesn’t need to be complicated, and that simplicity can be a real musical strength.

The project has continued to release new material, including One More Time (2024) and Lonely (2025). Live, Fly Project have remained very active, with more than 2,000 concerts performed since the project’s creation according to a Romanian agency page.

In his personal life, Tudor Ionescu is married to Ana/Anamaria Ionescu, described as a decorator and interior designer. Multiple sources say the couple has been together for around two decades, married in the mid-2010s, and have a daughter, Ilinca, born in 2017.

In recent years, he has also spoken publicly about periods of depression, anxiety and exhaustion, and about seeking specialised help.