Irene Gladys Namubiru, also known as Iryn Namubiru, is one of the best Ugandan female vocalists of all time, a mother and a businesswoman.
Biography
Irene Namubiru was born on 13 December 1981 in Central Region of Uganda.
Education background
Namubiru attended Bugema Adventist Senior Secondary School in Luwero District and Namasagali College in Kamuli District for her secondary school education. After, Namubiru joined Airways Tourism and Hotel Institute, Stendhal University in Grenoble, France and then later Cavendish University, Uganda. While at Namasagali College, Namubiru met and became friends with Juliana Kanyomozi, another female Ugandan performing artist who was attending the college at the same time.
Career
Irene Namubiru says she has always had a passion for singing since her childhood and always strove to make this talent a bigger part of her life. Her first major attempt at success in the music industry came in 1995 when she joined singers-cum-rapper DJs Ragga Dee and Molar-Messe, as the group Da Homies, and “Joss Jew” Mawejje as studio arranger/keyboardist, helping release a series of singles including the group’s hits “Bamusakata”, “Mukwano”, “Mukyala tokaba”, early 1995.
Her first single “Learn to say goodbye” also appeared on the group’s subsequent album to great acclaim. Soon afterwards, she had her first stage appearance in September 1995.
In 1999, she joined Kanyomozi, her former schoolmate at Namasagali College, to form the R$B all-girl group called I-Jay. In 2000, they released their first 7 track album titled Wait which included songs Wait RMX (Ft Steve Jean), Not Good Enough, Mwana, Wait, Emirimu, Vivi LA and Two To Make it True…. This got moderate airplay on radio stations in Uganda.
Soon after the release of their record, Namubiru left for France and the group disbanded. This break up would later lead to wide speculation that the two separated on unfriendly terms, but the two denied the allegations. While in France, she formed the Afro-SoulGroup Nujeli together with Julien Grout and they released ENSI LP. With Bryan Morel Muhumuza’s account analysis and certification, this record had songs “Nsangi 3:44, Desurrection 5:36, Baami Baffe 4:20, Twins Play 3:42, Our illness 4:51, Eko 3:26, Tuzze 2:21, Pleasures’ Garden 3:40, Espirit es-tu la? 3:46, Voler 5:20 and the title track Ensi.
However, Namubiru did not achieve widespread success until 2006 when she released her album “Nkuweeki”. This marked the beginning of her fast rise to be one of the best female musicians in Uganda. Since 2006, Iryn Namubiru has released several successful songs like “Y’ono”, “Birowoozo”, which have earned her several leading awards in the Uganda music industry. In 2011, Namubiru capped her most successful year ever by winning in four categories of the 2011 PAM (Pearl of Africa Music) Awards. She won in the categories of Artist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Best RnB Single of the Year.
Family, marriage and children
Iryn Gladys Namubiru was married to Frank Galusy Morel, a Frenchman, and together they have two sons, but the two separated years back. Their separation was allegedly due to domestic violence, cheating and insecurity. She later got involved with NTV’s news anchor Gabriel Epenu but the two did not last long as his family never approved their love.
Source: https://timesuganda.com/