Monika Kuszyńska

Monika Kuszyńska (born January 14, 1980, in Łódź) is a Polish singer and songwriter.

Monika grew up in Łódź. She obtained a master’s degree in art, specializing in music therapy, from the Music Academy.

During her school years, she sang in a children’s group. While in high school, she was involved in the school choir and theater and participated in recitation competitions. She started her professional career as a vocalist in the band Farenheit. They recorded two singles together: “Film” and “Sens istnienia,” with which they unsuccessfully attempted to participate in the “Debiuty” concert at the Polish Song Festival in Opole.

At the end of 2000, Monika became the vocalist of the band Varius Manx, a band that was already active and famous since 1989. In 2001, they released their first jointly recorded studio album called “Eta,” which was promoted with the singles “Maj” and “Jestem Twoją Afryką.” The song “Maj” competed unsuccessfully to participate in the “Premiery” concert at the 38th Polish Song Festival in Opole. Kuszyńska’s joining the band led to her being styled as a new symbol of sex appeal. She posed twice in a nude photo session for “Maxim” magazine.

In July 2002, they won the first prize at the Baltic Song Contest in Karlshamn with the song “Moje Eldorado.” They promoted their second album, “Eno,” released on September 21, 2002, which also featured the singles “Jest w nim” and “Znów być kochaną.” In January 2003, they participated with the song “Sonny” in the national selection for the 48th Eurovision Song Contest. They promoted the album “Emi,” released in 2004, which included Kuszyńska’s first songs with her own lyrics. The other singles from the album were “Pamiętaj mnie” and “Stay in My Heart,” which they recorded with rapper Red. In May, they performed a recital to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Varius Manx at the 41st Polish Song Festival in Opole.

On May 28, 2006, while returning from a concert in Milicz, Kuszyńska was seriously injured in a car accident, resulting in a spinal cord injury. Since then, she has been paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair. On July 16, 2006, a charity concert was held during the TOPtrendy 2006 festival in Sopot to support the injured members of the band.

In 2009, Monika Kuszyńska returned to the music scene at the invitation of Beata Bednarz, who suggested she write lyrics and record vocals for the song “Nowa rodzę się,” which appeared on Bednarz’s album “Pasja miłości.” In 2010, she made her first public appearance on television since the accident, performing the song on the program “Dzień dobry TVN.” In June 2010, she gave her first concert after the accident at the European Film Festival Integracja Ty i Ja in Koszalin.

In 2012, she was the choir captain from Łódź in the second season of the TVP2 program Bitwa na głosy. On June 12 of that year she released her first solo studio album titled “Ocalona.” 

In 2014, she was awarded the Ona to Skarb award, participated in a social campaign and became an ambassador for the Wings for Life World Run races, the photographic-social project “440 kilometrów po zmianę,” the “Równe Szanse” program, and the T-Mobile campaign “Pomoc mierzona kilometrami.”

In March 2015 she was announced as Poland’s representative in the 60th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. She co-wrote the contest song “In the Name of Love” She performed at promotional events such as Eurovision Pre-Party Riga 2015 in Riga and Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam. During a press conference in Kraków organized by the Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk, she recorded the Polish version of the song, titled “Obudź się i żyj.” She qualified for the final at the Eurovision Song Contest.. In the final, she received 10 points and finished 23rd out of 27 finalists.

On November 13, her recording of the song “Linia życia” was included on the album “Kobiety” by the band Pectus. On November 4, 2015, her autobiographical book titled “Drugie życie,” was published.

In May 2016 she appeared in Bartek Grzanek’s song “Czort.” On June 1, 2017, she released the song “To taka miłość,” dedicated to her son. On June 15, 2019, she performed the song “Nie ma rady na miłość” at the “Premier” concert during the 56th Polish Song Festival in Opole. The song was a preview of her second solo studio album, which was supposed to be released on her 40th birthday but was never released. In 2019, she was featured in the Super Polsat program “Linia życia. Niepokonani,” and in 2020, she served as a mentor on the talent show program “Usłyszcie nas!” on TTV.