Ilya Salmanzadeh (; ; born 19 September 1986), known mononymously as Ilya, is an Iranian-born Swedish songwriter, producer, and singer. He rose to prominence outside of Sweden after co-writing and producing

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

's hit single "

Problem Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

" for her second studio album '' My Everything'' (2014).

Career

Ilya Salmanzadeh was born in Iran, raised in Denmark, and moved to Sweden at age 11."Hitmaker of the Month ILYA Talks Making 'Unholy' With Sam Smith"
In 2005 at the age of 19, he sang with Warner/Chappell Music in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2009, he graduated from the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

in Hollywood, California. " Miss Me",

Mohombi Mohombi Nzasi Moupondo (born 17 October 1986) is a Congolese- Swedish musician, singer, composer and dancer. He grew up in Norsborg and Kista near Stockholm. Mohombi was RedOne's first signing to 2101 Records in joint venture with Universa ...

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and embarked on his musical career in 1993 as a member of the Midwest hip hop g ...

's song in 2010, was Ilya's first internationally acclaimed production. In 2011, he produced "Mama" and "Reba" from

The Lonely Island The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio, formed by Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer in Berkeley, California, in 2001. They have written for and starred in the American TV program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). The th ...

's Grammy-nominated album, '' Turtleneck & Chain''. In 2013, he produced

Cher Lloyd Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer. She participated on the The X Factor (UK series 7), seventh series of the television talent show ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor'' in 2010, where she finished in fourth place. F ...

's song, " I Wish", and

Fifth Harmony Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, is an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and formerly Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signed a ...

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

-winning song, " Me & My Girls". Alongside

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic known professional ...

, he co-wrote and produced

's "

" and

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

's " First Love" in 2014. "Problem" went on to become one of the fastest-selling

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

history before winning a

Teen Choice Award The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

, VMA and

EMA Ema or EMA may refer to: Biology and medicine * Anti-Endomysial Antibodies test * Epithelial membrane antigen * European Medicines Agency, a European Union agency for the evaluation of medicinal products * European Medical Association, associa ...

months later. In June 2014, Ilya was nominated for the Denniz Pop Awards, an annual prize handed out to up-and-coming musicians. " Bang Bang", co-produced by Ilya, was released as a joint single by

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind ...

, Ariana Grande and

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

on 29 July 2014 to universal acclaim. In January 2015,

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer, songwriter, and activist. Born in Hereford and raised in Lyonshall, Goulding began writing songs at the age of 15. She released her debut single " Under the Sheets" through ...

's "

Love Me Like You Do "Love Me Like You Do" is a song recorded by English singer Ellie Goulding for the soundtrack to the film '' Fifty Shades of Grey'' (2015). The song was written by Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Tove Lo, Max Martin and Ali Payami; the latt ...

", co-written by Ilya, was released for the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

to the motion picture, ''

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'', becoming the most-streamed song in a week on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

. In May 2015, he remixed

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's " Bad Blood" with

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

, which became his first No.1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He co-wrote and produced large parts of

's later albums ''

Sweetener A sweetener is a substance added to food or drink to impart the flavor of sweetness, either because it contains a type of sugar, or because it contains a sweet-tasting sugar substitute. Various natural non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) and artificial s ...

'' and '' Thank U, Next''. In 2019, Salmanzadeh co-wrote and produced

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's Grammy-nominated song " Spirit". He also worked on the production of

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Labrinth signed as a recording artist with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music in 2010, ini ...

's singles "Miracle" and "Oblivion" (which features Sia), both taken from his sophomore solo album, '' Imagination & the Misfit Kid''. His latest work is on Ed Sheeran's track "Azizam". He co-wrote and produced this song with Ed Sheeran, Johnny McDaid and Savan Kotecha. It was released on 04 April 2025.

Discography

Singles

;As lead artist *2007: "Used To Be" ;As featured artist *2009: "Get You on the Pool" (Kocky & Trash featuring Ilya) *2011: "Got It Like That" ( Lazee ft. Ilya)

Production discography

Ilya's works include:

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmanzadeh, Ilya 1986 births Living people English-language singers from Sweden Musicians Institute alumni People from Kerman Singers from Stockholm Swedish agnostics Swedish audio engineers Swedish composers Swedish male composers Swedish dance musicians Swedish expatriates in the United States Swedish hip-hop musicians Swedish keyboardists Swedish people of Iranian descent Swedish pop guitarists Swedish pop pianists Swedish pop singers Swedish record producers Swedish male singer-songwriters Swedish singer-songwriters Contemporary R&B singers Universal Music Group artists Warner Music Group artists 21st-century Swedish engineers Swedish male pianists 21st-century Swedish singers 21st-century Swedish pianists 21st-century Swedish guitarists 21st-century Swedish male singers Musikförläggarnas pris winners