Ich Troje

Formation and Early Years

Ich Troje (which translates to “The Three of Them”) formed in Łódź in 1995 under the leadership of vocalist Michał Wiśniewski and composer Jacek Łągwa. The pop group’s initial lineup was rounded out by female singer Magdalena Pokora, known by her stage name Magda Femme. Together, the trio released their debut album Intro in 1996, followed by ITI Cd. in 1997. These early releases helped the band build a fanbase with their catchy pop tunes and emotional lyrics, setting the stage for mainstream success. By the late 1990s, Ich Troje’s romantic ballads and up-tempo pop songs were gaining traction, though the true breakthrough was yet to come.

Around 2000, a major lineup change occurred: Magda Femme departed and was replaced by a new lead vocalist, Justyna Majkowska. With Majkowska’s voice, Ich Troje skyrocketed to national fame. The band’s fourth studio album, Ad. 4 (released in 2001), became a phenomenon – it debuted at No. 1 on the Polish sales chart and remained at the top for 18 consecutive weeks. Ad. 4 eventually sold around half a million copies and earned Diamond certification in Poland. It featured hits like “Powiedz” (“Tell Me”), which dominated Polish airwaves in 2001, and “A wszystko to… (bo ciebie kocham)” (“And All of This… Because I Love You”). Ich Troje’s pop anthems resonated widely; that summer the band performed an astonishing 148 concerts across Poland, sometimes two per day, drawing crowds up to 200,000. While beloved by fans, their flashy, theatrical performances and melodramatic style drew mixed reactions from critics, who at times dismissed the act as kitsch even as they acknowledged the group as a cultural phenomenon. In one notable episode, frontman Wiśniewski asked popular Radio Zet to stop playing “Powiedz” after the station’s DJs made disparaging comments about the band – making Ich Troje the first Polish artist to refuse national radio airplay of their own hit song. Despite such controversies, Ich Troje’s popularity only grew, bolstered by industry awards like the Audience Award at the 2001 National Festival of Polish Song in Opole for “Powiedz” and even an international Grand Prix at the Baltic States Song Festival that same year.

Ich Troje gained international exposure through the Eurovision Song Contest, representing Poland twice. In 2003, with Justyna Majkowska as the lead singer, the group won Poland’s national selection and went on to perform “Keine Grenzen – Żadnych granic” (a trilingual ballad in Polish, German, and Russian) at Eurovision in Riga. The song, carrying a message of unity and peace, earned Poland a 7th place. Ich Troje returned to Eurovision in 2006 with a new lineup featuring vocalist Anna Świątczak (by then Wiśniewski’s wife) and German rapper Olaf “O-Jay” Jeglitza of Real McCoy. Their 2006 entry “Follow My Heart,” performed in four languages (Polish, English, German, and Russian), was an ambitious pop track. However, this time Poland did not advance to the finals: Ich Troje finished 11th in the semifinal, just missing qualification. 

Frequent lineup changes – especially the role of the female vocalist – became a hallmark of Ich Troje’s story. After the Eurovision 2003 success, Justyna Majkowska left the group and was succeeded by Anna Świątczak in late 2003. Świątczak fronted the band through a productive mid-2000s period that included the 2004 album 6-ty ostatni przystanek (“The 6th – The Last Stop”) and 2006’s 7 grzechów głównych (“7 Deadly Sins”). Though these later albums did not match the multi-platinum heights of their predecessors, they solidified Ich Troje’s staying power with dedicated fans. In 2010 Świątczak (who, like Magda Femme before her, was not only the singer but also Wiśniewski’s spouse during her tenure) parted ways with the band. Thereafter, Wiśniewski and Łągwa carried on with a rotating cast of vocal collaborators. Norwegian singer Jeanette Vik briefly joined as lead vocalist in 2010, followed by Justyna “Jazzta” Panfilewicz from 2011 to 2013 and then Marta Milan in 2013. Despite these upheavals, the core duo – Wiśniewski and Łągwa – never ceased their activities. Throughout the 2010s, they focused on live touring (while Wiśniewski also pursued a few solo projects) and maintained a loyal following at concerts. 

In 2017, Ich Troje introduced a new vocalist, Agata Buczkowska, who joined Wiśniewski and Łągwa to release the album Pierwiastek z dziewięciu (“Element of Nine”. This ninth studio album marked the band’s first new studio release in nearly a decade and showed that their trademark blend of pop, rock, and dance music remained intact. Buczkowska’s tenure lasted until 2020, when a surprising lineup change saw the return of longtime singer Anna Świątczak. With Świątczak back on board, Ich Troje recorded and released Projekt X in 2022 – the title signaling the band’s tenth studio album and a nod to its Roman numeral “X”. In the 2020s, the group continues to make headlines and draw audiences. In 2024, Ich Troje was an attraction at the 30th Pol’and’Rock Festival (formerly Woodstock Poland), a major open-air rock festival, where they performed a set of their hits to an intergenerational crowd. A live album from that festival was released in 2025, underscoring the band’s enduring appeal. Nearly three decades since their debut, Ich Troje remains active and visible on the Polish music scene. As of 2025, the band’s lineup consists of the two founders – Wiśniewski and Łągwa – along with Anna Świątczak, and together they continue to tour and perform. In a testament to their longevity, Ich Troje have recorded a total of ten studio albums and sold well over a million records in Poland. Their best-known songs, from the poignant “Zawsze z Tobą chciałbym być” (“I Always Want To Be With You”) to the pan-European hit “Keine Grenzen,” have become evergreen sing-along classics in Poland.