Salem Al Fakir

Biography

Early life and artist career

Salem Al Fakir's father Nabil is of Syrian origin and originated from Damascus, whereas his mother, Inger, is from Sweden. Salem is the fourth of six siblings (Aminah, Ayman, Nassim, Salem, Sami and Fares). He learned to play violin at the age of four and subsequently toured Russia as a solo violinist at the age of fourteen, but returned to Sweden to study jazz piano. As a student he attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm.

In the autumn of 2006, Al Fakir released his first EP Dream Girl. He is most famous for his chart topping albums This Is Who I Am (2007), Astronaut (2009) and Ignore This (2010). At the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2008 he won big – taking home four awards and being nominated in seven categories.

He took part in Melodifestivalen 2010, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, with "Keep On Walking" and finished in second place.

2010–present: Songwriting

After his solo career, Al Fakir became more focused on the songwriting. Beginning to collaborate with Avicii on "Silhouettes" in 2012. Among the first co-writes with Vincent Pontare are Avicii's 2013 Billboard Hot 100 single "Hey Brother" and "Younger" by Seinabo Sey.

At the 2014 Swedish Grammy Awards, Al Fakir, Vincent Pontare and Magnus Lidehäll were awarded Composer of the Year after writing for Veronica Maggio's album Handen i fickan fast jag bryr mig and the Petter album Början på allt, and work with artists like Galantis. In 2014 he wrote numerous songs on Mapei's album Hey Hey and Avicii's "The Days" and "Divine Sorrow" (with Wyclef Jean). Al Fakir followed up with another successful year in 2015 co-writing most songs on Seinabo Sey's highly acclaimed debut album Pretend and songs for Madonna's Rebel Heart album.

Vargas & Lagola have co-written some of the biggest hits by Axwell Ʌ Ingrosso – "More Than You Know", "Sun Is Shining", "Dreamer" and more - taken from their 2017 album More Than You Know.

The duo have also contributed to two songs on Swedish rock band Ghost's Billboard 200-charting and Grammy Award-nominated album Prequelle, including the album's second single "Dance Macabre" which topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart.

In 2018, the same moment as Vargas & Lagola blazed onto the alternative pop scene with the hit single "Roads", they shared the no.1 spot as Sweden's most streamed songwriters for songs including Avicii – "Without You (feat. Sandro Cavazza)" and "Waiting For Love". After working closely with Avicii for several years, Al Fakir and Pontare played a key role in finishing up the 2019 posthumous Avicii album TIM and are featured artists on three of the album songs. On 5 December 2019, Vargas & Lagola performed at Avicii's Tribute Concert in Stockholm.

Vargas & Lagola's debut album The Butterfly Effect was released in January 2020.

Discography

As Vargas & Lagola

Main article: Vargas and Lagola#Discography

As solo artist

Albums

Singles

Uncredited vocal work

Songwriting and production credits

Songwriting and production credits for local Swedish artists

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. "Grammisvinnarna genom åren".
2. (15 January 2015). "Den stora omvandlingen".
3. (27 January 2017). "Production Duo Vargas & Lagola launch themselves with party-house banger "Rolling Stone"".
4. Berit Nygren. (28 May 2009). "Stor festival för Adolf Fredrik 70". Sveriges Radio (Swedish Government radio broadcaster).
5. (9 January 2008). "Tidiga Grammisar till Salem Al Fakir". Svenska Dagbladet.
6. link. (25 February 2010)
7. (13 May 2013). "Avicii & Salem Al Fakir Silhouettes".
8. "Avicii Chart History".
9. (20 February 2014). "Grammis 2014".
10. (19 November 2014). "Wyclef Jean and Avicii team up for "Divine Sorrow"".
11. (23 October 2015). "Seinabo Sey releases debut album 'Pretend'".
12. (9 March 2015). "Madonna releases new album 'Rebel Heart'".
13. (20 October 2017). "Axwell Λ Ingrosso – More Than You Know".
14. (6 October 2018). "Kanye West Earns Eight no. 1 album on Billboard 200 Chart with 'Ye'".
15. (14 February 2019). "Ghost Waltzes to Third Mainstream Rock Songs No. 1 With 'Dance Macabre'".
16. (23 November 2020). "GRAMMY Award Results for Ghost".
17. (23 February 2018). "Vargas & Lagola är de- mest populära låtskrivarna 2017".
18. (6 June 2019). "'I had to honour him': the friends who finished Avicii's final album". The Guardian.
19. "Avicii Tribute Concert".
20. (4 February 2020). "ALBUM: Vargas & Lagola - 'The Butterfly Effect'".
21. "Salem Al Fakir discography". Hung Medien.
22. "Salem discography". Hung Medien.
23. "Avicii – Silhouettes". [[Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening]].
24. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2013 Singles". [[Australian Recording Industry Association]].
25. "Certified Awards". [[British Phonographic Industry]].
26. "Avicii – You Make Me". [[Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening]].
27. "Certificazioni - FIMI".
28. "Gold & Platinum: Avicii". [[Recording Industry Association of America]].
29. http://www.sverigetopplistan.se (Click "search all records" and view 11 December 2014. Then click "visa" on "Something New")
30. "Certificazioni - FIMI".
31. http://www.sverigetopplistan.se (Click "search all records" and view 2 April 2015. Then click "visa" on "On My Way")
32. http://www.sverigetopplistan.se (Click "search all records" and view 26 June 2015. Then click "visa" on "Sun Is Shining")
33. "ZPAV :: Bestsellery i wyróżnienia - Wyróżnienia - Złote płyty CD - Archiwum".
34. "Resultat och bilder 2007".
35. (3 September 2007). "Salem al Fakir".
36. (3 September 2007). "Resultat och bilder 2007".
37. (6 January 2008). "Spelmannen till Salem Al Fakir". Svenska Dagbladet.
38. "Nominated 2008".
39. (15 January 2008). "Alla P3 Guld-nominerade 2008 - P3 Guld". Sveriges Radio.
40. "Nominated 2010".
41. "Nominated 2011".
42. "Nominated 2014".
43. (29 September 2014). "Nominerade till Musikförläggarnas Pris 2014".
44. "Nominated 2015".
45. (28 September 2015). "Nominerade till Musikförläggarnas Pris 2015".
46. "Nominated 2016".
47. "Nominated 2018".