Shabnam Melina Rooney (born 26 April 2002), known professionally as Shabnam (2017-present; pronounced ʃˈɑːb-nˈɑːm SHARB-narm) or Shabnam the Wengie, is a British entertainer. She became widely known for starring in the DollTv series New Style Boutique from August 2017 to December 2018, and her energetic and upbeat persona.
Early life[]
Shabnam Melina Rooney was born in Northampton, England on 26 April 2002 to businesswoman Gujarati Rooney (née Devarajah) and former action film actor Noah Rooney. She is of Indian and Punjabi descent with Iranian roots. Her parents chose the name Shabnam because of its meaning of "dew" in Persian. Her mother has two other children, Mackenzie and Miku. A video of her covering the 2007 Padma Sahni song, "I Love You, My Baby", was posted to YouTube on 3 December 2007. It earned 239,945 views as of January 2025. She also learned how to rap after listening to hip hop artists like Eminem and Lil D.
2009: BARNEEEE[]
Shabnam got interested in acting at the age of 3, whilst on set of British television actress Dani Darron’s TV series, The Sweet Life of a Bubble Maker in April 2006. Shabnam booked her first acting role in May 2009, when she starred as Stacy Duhamel, a 6-year-old girl, in two episodes of the children's series BARNEEEE; Stacy Hates Robots and Lulani's Dance Club.
2010-2013: Further acting roles[]
Shabnam gained her second acting role as Barbara in the drama film, The West of Royalty, which was released in cinemas on 12 February 2010. She went on to star in several films and television series, including Magic Eagle as Sylvia Layman, I'm Popular as a Loner as Madison, and Teen HashtagGirls as Tyelle Jackson. Footage of her performing Lil Key Z's song, Why You Wanna Trash Me, was uploaded to YouTube on 2 March 2010. She provided lead vocals for the theme song, “Please Let Me In” from the 2011 television series The Juice Cup. Shabnam had an uncredited role in the 2012 fantasy comedy film, The Width of an Angel, voicing the CGI-animated fairy, Marina Herds.
2014-2016: The Melanie Dolls[]
Shabnam joined British dance group, The Melanie Dolls, in February 2014. Her first routine was set to Game On by American soul group The Soulettes. Footage of the dance routine, filmed by ex-member Sana Erica Lee, was posted to their official YouTube channel on March 2014, crossing eight million views as of October 2025. She appeared in a few Vine[1] and musical.ly videos with the group. In February 2017, it as announced she had quit the group.
2017-2019: New Style Boutique and breakthrough popularity[]
In January 2017, it was revealed she will be starring on the then-upcoming DollTv reality television series, New Style Boutique, based on the PAL region localization of the 2012 Nintendo 3DS game, Style Savvy: Trendsetters. Production for Shabnam's appearances commenced on February onwards for Season 2 and Season 3, with breaks throughout. On 31 July, she launched her YouTube channel, ShabnamTheWengie, with the first video, “Welcome to my Channel!”. In 1 August, her first appearance as on New Style Boutique, the first episode of the second season, “Wait for Me!”, aired on DollTv. This propelled her to mainstream fame, gaining positive views from its fanbase, Boutiquers, with some mixed reception from the public. The same day, she self-released her debut single Preppy Party. The official music video for the song, which was posted on the ShabnamVEVO channel and directed by Sally Singh, gained 39 million views as of October 2025. In 14 September, she self-released her first album, chen.. On 23 September, she became an featured artist on the Hilana Perez song California Poco. She was later revealed to work on her then-untitled debut studio album with its producers, Parry Merritt and Mo Khalid. The song Preppy doll is in the naege was released on 12 November 2017 and became her first charting song, debuting atop the Billboard Hot 100 and 200. She became a signed artist to Caroline Records on December 2017 and released Party Doll Anthem. and her debut extended play, Hamasaki POP! on 13 and 23 December; her first releases under the label. On January 2018, Shabnam released the commercially unsuccessful single Whamasay. Her first book, titled How to Be Fit With Shabnam, became published on 1 February. On 7 February, the single Stamp on my City was released, debuting at number one at the Billboard Hot 100 chart. On March 2018, she released My Life is a Curfew. The title of her album was revealed to be Wengie. In an interview with NME, she said: "I chose WENGIE because it references my personality of being a wengie, and it literally feels like a dream to sign to an record label as an wengie," She released the album on 11 April 2018, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 and UK Albums charts, making her the first artist born in the 2000s to gain a number-one album. She announced a book series titled The Shabnam Diaries, which got adapted into a 2D-animated comedy television series in April 2020 and a film on August 2023. On 15 April, her first reality show, Shabnam: The Television Series, aired its first episode on DollTv. In 20 April, the movie Shabnam the Movie, was released. This was accompanied by three sequels; Shabnam the Movie 2, Shabnam the Movie 3, and Shabnam the Movie 4, which were both released in June 2019, August 2020 and February 2025 respectively. On 3 September, she announced that The Shabnam Show will be airing on DollTv on 26 September. She has since released six studio albums between 2018 and 2020 under the Caroline Records label; Anna, Preppy Style, Dream Crazy Big, Fashionista, Get this Love, Rhythm, and the self-titled Shabnam. On 12 May, she launched the music channel, ShabnamMusic, which she posts music-related content; her VEVO channel became inactive. On 2 November 2018, it was announced that she will be leaving New Style Boutique after 2 seasons. On 1 December 2018, she released her first Christmas album, Christmas in a Candy Store. In 23 December 2018, she made her departure from New Style Boutique, her last episode being season three's "Goodbye Shabnam".
2019-present: Continued success[]
On 6 January 2019, she launched her third YouTube gaming channel, ShabnamGaming. She released her first mixtape, Bowalicious, on 20 January. On 6 March, she released her second mixtape, Bizaardvark. On 7 July, she released the single Viva Spicy. On 1 November, she released the promotional album Koda. On 24 December 2019, she announced her debut concert tour, WENGIE Tour, which took place from 1 January to 10 January 2020. In 15 February, she released the novelty album, Stylishly Like A Yakku, along with its lead single, Imma Boomerang, which its music video gained over 1.3 billion views as of September 2024. On March 2020, the series Shabnam’s World started airing on DollTv. On 11 June, she released her sixth studio album, Get This Love, supporting it with an virtual concert. On 29 July, she released the single Electric Showgirl. On 1 August 2020, she released her seventh studio album, Rhythm, supporting it with an virtual concert. On 8 October, she released a trilogy of albums, consisting of Covers, Parodies, and Karaoke. On 30 October, she released the non-album single Doki Doki. On 24 November, she became the founder and CEO of an entertainment company called Shabnam Inc. The Shabnam’s Christmas film, released on December 2020, was the company's first film project. On 1 December, she released her second Christmas album of the same name. On 28 January 2021, she released the non-album single Unity Chok, which its music video gained 158 million views as of March 2024. On 7 February, she made an appearance the New Style Boutique episode “When I Look at The Fan”, since December 2018. In 3 May, she released the film, Shabnam and the City. On 25 May, the documentary Shabnam: The World of the Wengie was aired on DollTv. In 30 October 2021, she embarked on her fourth concert tour, The Shabnam Festival, which ended in 20 November and had stops in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and North America. On 6 January 2022, she released the single Sour. In 18 February, she announced the movie, The Wonderful World of Shabnam, will premiere on Disney+ on 20 February 2022. On 3 March 2022, she announced the movie, Shabnam goes to Hollywood. It premiered on 11 March 2022 on DollTv. In 24 March, she announced the release of the album Dollshi on 1 April 2022. Three singles from the album were released; the title track on 1 April, Party with Sour on 8 April, and Ready to Sisi on 20 April. On 17 April 2022, DollTv announced that Shabnam's 20th Birthday Spectacular, will premiere on the platform on 26 April. On 9 May 2022, it began teasing her second comeback on New Style Boutique. A few days after, Shabnam later announced the release of the film Shabnam’s Feral Girl Summer, which was released on cinemas on 5 June 2022. On 26 June 2022, Shabnam made her third appearance on the New Style Boutique episode “5 Years of New Style Boutique”. On 1 August 2022, she performed at a concert dedicated to the fifth anniversary at the O2 Arena, London. That same day, she announced the single, "Wang", was releasing on 5 August. On 8 September 2022, she released the pop rock song “I Wanna Party” alongside its music video, which clocked 40 million views as of March 2024. On 30 October, she announced the single Bows Like That, which was then released on 1 November. In 6 January 2023, she released the single, Am I Ready to Be Spicy, after previously announcing it on social media platforms on 3 January. On 27 January, she announced her fifth concert tour, Shabnam Live, which started on 1 February and ended on 15 October. It originally visited Asia and Europe, but she has added more dates for other continents on May and September respectively. On 25 April, she announced the launch of the theme park, The Shabnam Experience, on 1 May. On 5 May, she announced Main Event, to be released on 12 May, followed by a teaser of its music video. On 19 May, she announced the extended play of the same name, which was released on 5 June. She announced new tour dates for Shabnam Live the same day, starting from 1 to 20 June. On 23 June, the movie Shabnam: Take One was released after being announced a few weeks before, along with the theme song, This is My Movie. On 26 July, she announced the song Rock On, which was released on 1 August. On 8 August, she announced the movie The Shabnam Diaries: The Movie, which was released on 11 August, along with its theme song, Paint the Town Pink. On 1 September, she was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards, with “Rock On” being nominated for the category of Song of Summer. She later performed the song at the ceremony’s main show. On November 2023, she received Grammy nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year for “Rock On”, and Best Pop Dance Recording for “Main Event”. On 4 February 2024, she won Record of the Year for and performed "Rock On" at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. She announced she was reuniting with The Melanie Dolls after seven years, while accepting her award for Record Of The Year, with a documentary film, titled Beyond the Stage: The Melanie Dolls' Untold Story, in the works. She was announced as a performer for the 2024 Brit Awards main ceremony on 3 February. On 2 March, she won International Song of the Year with Rock On, performing it at the main ceremony. On 4 May, she announced Shabnam Live 2.0, her sixth concert tour and follow-up to Shabnam Live, which ran from 13 June 2024 to 27 June 2025. On 1 August, to celebrate the seventh anniversary of her music career, she announced NIRVANA, her first music release in almost a year, which was released on 2 August, and won MTV Video Music Awards for Video of the Year and Song of the Summer and Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Rock Song, and Best Music Video. On 5 August, she announced Winner which won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Pop Recording, released on 9 August. On 12 August, they were announced as part of the tracklist for her album, Shabnam’s Pleasure House, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, released on 16 August with the third single, Pleasure House, alongside a deluxe edition on 10 September with three additional songs. On 13 September, she was announced to headline the Super Bowl LIX halftime show on 9 February 2025, making history as the youngest headliner at 22 years old, beating 28-year-old Bruno Mars in 2014. On 10 January 2025, Shabnam announced Shabnam the Movie 4, with a trailer posted to her YouTube channel that same day. It released in cinemas on 14 February 2025. The song Boom was released a week later on 17 January 2025 to celebrate 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify and being the youngest ever to do so. Shabnam became the most awarded artist of the 2025 Brit Awards, to which she performed at the main ceremony, with four wins in total, including Songwriter of the Year, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. On 10 March 2025, she was announced as a performer for the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards on 17 March, and Billboard's 2025 Woman of the Year the following day, which was received at the Billboard Women in Music event on 29 March. On 1 May, she was announced to be part of the lineup of artists for F1: The Album, which includes music for the film F5, with the song "Drive", which released on 27 June 2025. On 16 May, she announced Shabnam the Musical 2, which was released on 23 May, with a trailer. She also expanded Shabnam Live 2.0 to May and June 2025, planning to add more dates if the success continues. On 14 July, Shabnam held a concert where she and the audience are in the nude, sprayed in an edible pink substance, gaining polarizing media coverage. On 1 August, Shabnam held a concert to celebrate 8 years of becoming a mainstream celebrity. On 21 August, Shabnam started a countdown on her website that started at 2:00pm and ending at 4:00pm. After it has finished, Shabnam announced five new projects to be released every Friday, starting from 29 August with the video game The World of Shabnam, followed by the perfume Pleasure House on 5 September, the concert film Shabnam Live 2.0 on 12 September, and the documentary film Finding Shabnam on 19 September. On 20 October, she announced the musical Shabnam: The Broadway Musical, which toured in the United Kingdom from 12 December on 26 December 2025, with its final show being recorded for a film set for release in early 2026. On 8 November, Shabnam appeared at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame ceremony to induct Cyndi Lauper, and performed “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” with her. On 13 November, new episodes of Shabnam’s World started airing on DollTv. On 23 November, she announced that she will collaborate with the video game Fortnite to become the headliner for its spin-off, Fortnite Festival, for Season 12, where her skin will wear new outfits alongside those from her public appearances, with additional items available to unlock.
Public image and recognition[]
Shabnam has been credited with the popularity of the “wengie” stereotype, with various publications describing her as the “Queen of Wengies”. She has also been dubbed “The World’s Biggest Wengie”. She became the non-musical artist with the most monthly listeners on Spotify, becoming the third female artist to reach 100 million in January 2025. Her presence on DollTv has also been credited with bolstering the network’s presence outside its target adult demographic, and gave her the title “Queen of DollTv”. On her birthday in 2019, Shabnam rebranded her image; she started wearing more feminine garments. This sometimes shifted into a provocative manner in the mid-2020s, while keeping the original colourful and bright aesthetic. Her excited facial expression, dubbed as the “Kawasaki Face”, became an Internet meme; leading her to being a subject of the YouTube Poop community. Her media attention and persona had lead to widespread scrunity, especially on the internet; she had said she had experienced suicidal thoughts and self-harm whilst filming the third season of New Style Boutique. She also noted that it was the reason for her departure from the series on December 2018. In recent years, general public view had shifted to highly-acclaimed praise. This phenomenon, sometimes known as Shabmania, has been likened to the attention surrounding British group the Beatles.
Achivements[]
Shabnam is the recipient of numerous awards, including seven Grammy Awards, three Emmy Awards, twelve MTV Video Music Awards, four Guinness World Records, nine Brit Awards, seven Teen Choice Awards, eight Kids Choice Awards, and six Billboard Music Awards. She had sold 25 million records worldwide as of December 2025.
Style[]
In a 2017 Teen Vogue interview, she said that in order to not be recognised while filming some acting roles, she wears weaves and wigs and light and/or heavy makeup. Her aesthetic, which typically consists of rainbow colours and glitter, has been compared to celebrities like JoJo Siwa and Katy Perry by the fans and tabloids.
Wealth[]
Shabnam was revealed to be a self-made billionaire on August 2020, becoming the youngest person to amass $1 billion at the time, after Forbes revealed that fellow television personality Kylie Jenner was dropped from their billionaire list in April 2020. Shabnam's net worth is estimated by Forbes at $1.8 billion as of December 2025.
Personal life[]
Shabnam and her family moved to Towcester in the mid-2000s; she lived with her family until she moved out in April 2019.
On 1 December 2021, her great-grandmother, Marjorie, died of lung cancer in hospital. She was cremated in 4 December. Some of her ashes were given to Shabnam to keep in a jar, and the rest were scattered in the Garden of Rest in Northampton.
Her dog, Tokyo, died after being hit by a speeding car on April 2023, at the age of 15. She was laid to rest in a special area in Shabnam’s garden.
She was raised Christian and has an peanut allergy.
She revealed her diagnosis with synesthesia in November 2020 and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in April 2023. She credited them as influences in her work, saying that “synesthesia has helped me with ideas, and ADHD made me a more happier person than I used to be”. She described her synethesia as “seeing music in colour, tasting letters and numbers, smelling sound, all that kind of thing” in a 2020 interview with Billboard.
She came out as bisexual in November 2016 to her family and regularly supports the LGBT community and their rights.
She began dating film actor Otto Tisolvs in March 2020, after the red carpet event for D.R.E.A.M. 2 in London, but split in August 2020. She began dating social media personality Mark Bontempo shortly after, but they split after three months of dating. She and Otto got back together on November 2020.
On September 2025, Shabnam revealed that Otto was planning for her engagement in late 2025 or early 2026.
On 25 December 2025, she announced her engagement to Otto after five years of dating, later revealing their wedding would take place in January 2027 to focus on its planning.
Artistry[]
Musical style, songwriting and music videos[]
Shabnam is an mezzo-soprano with a vocal range of 3 octaves and 1 semitone. Media outlets called her vocals "spunky" and "nostalgic". Her vocals in reviews of her first recordings have been criticized for being “weak” and “off-tune”; she started vocal lessons during filming of season 3 episodes for New Style Boutique due to this. Her music has incorporated genres such as electronic dance music, glam rock and house. Her lyrical content focuses on topics such as female empowerment, her lifestyle, and motivation.
Influences[]
Shabnam grew up listening to artists such as Lady Gaga and Slipknot. She has said that attending concerts inspired her to persue music as a career. She has cited Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Elton John, Queen and Britney Spears as her main influences and biggest idols. She has also cited Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, Elvis Presley, Beyonce, and others as musical and style influences. Shabnam has been compared to these artists by her fans and the media, which garnered some criticism within the music community.
Tours[]
Headlining[]
- Wengie Tour (2020)
- The Shabnam Festival (2021)
- Shabnam Live (2023)
- Shabnam Live 2.0 (2024-2025)
Opening act[]
Little Mix - Summer Hits Tour (2018) Little Mix - LM5 The Tour (2019)
Gallery[]
- ↑ The app shut down on January 2017, but their videos still remain in its archive. They have since been posted on their TikTok account.