Vivian Nouri was born in a refugee camp in Syria in 1993, after her family fled the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, after the first Gulf War of 1991. They were settled in New Zealand in the mid-1990s, where her family began their new life.
Now professionally known as NOURI, her first ever performance was in Australia, where she lived with her family for a number of years.
It was after receiving a standing ovation following that performance as a nine-year-old at her primary school's talent quest in Melbourne, that NOURI told SBS Kurdish: "I thought...'Oh, OK! maybe be I can sing...' and ever since then I wanted to do it professionally because I just loved that feeling of being on stage."
Although her family didn't initially take her seriously, when she wanted to take on a career in music, NOURI says she had a better chance to do what she loved because she was the middle child of five.
"Like all Kurdish parents, they'd like you to become doctors, lawyers or civil engineers," she says.
"But lucky for me, I have four sisters and one brother, and I'm the middle girl, so my eldest sister, she is an engineer now, and the one below her is a lawyer...I thought maybe I have got a shot here to do something that I want."
NOURI went to university and studied computer science, "and in doing that I was a straight-A student and received a scholarship, but that's not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I loved it, but singing was my true passion."
"...I really need to do this. You just need to trust me, I need to do this...." NOURI said trying to convince her mother, to follow her dream in the music industry.
So she decided to take the year off from her studies in 2017 and went to the United States. She told her mother that she will give it one shot, and if things didn't work out she would go back and continue what she was doing back home in New Zealand.
Ever since then, NOURI has worked hard on her career and now has full support from her mother.
With the release of her new single and video clip, "Where Do We Go From Here" she has been flooded with congratulatory messages and love from her fans all over the world, especially her Kurdish fans, on social media.
Some of her career highlights include featuring on the soundtrack to Daddy’s Home 2 and performing the United States National Anthem at the prestigious Staples Center in Los Angeles in 2018. And now her debut single is set to make an impact worldwide.
When SBS Kurdish asked her about the feedback she's been receiving from her fans and followers, NOURI says "it's been crazy, I didn't realise how much of an impact I had and the song had on people, especially the Kurdish people...my followers on Instagram have been praising me...
...I get a lot of Kurdish girls that are messaging in my direct mail, that are saying they're so proud of me, I'm chasing my dream and it's inspiring them to do the same thing..to be getting those messages so early in my career....it's crazy, and I'm so thankful for everyone that is supporting me."
"The times are changing and I want to be that change"
"I stay strong to my values and I am a very family orientated person, I just had to do what was great for the song"
Will NOURI sing in Kurdish?
As for her future plans, NOURI says she'll be staying in the US to work on her music. Following the successful release of the single her fans are now asking her if she will be singing in Kurdish? To which she replies that she is definitely thinking about it now, and may collaborate with a Kurdish singer in the future.
Listen to NOURI's introduction in Kurdish below:
