Lars Salem Al Fakir (; born 27 October 1981) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He regularly collaborates with

Vincent Pontare Fred Vincent Pontare (born 13 May 1980) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and singer. He is also known by the mononym Vincent. He regularly collaborates with Salem Al Fakir as songwriting, producer, and duo Vargas & Lagola. Together, they have ...

as the songwriting and production duo Vargas and Lagola. Together, they have worked with many artists, including

Avicii Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer. At age 16, he began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose ...

, Axwell & Ingrosso,

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Seinabo Sey Seinabo Sey (born 7 October 1990) is a Swedish soul and pop singer, best known for her international hit song " Younger". Early life Seinabo Sey was born in Södermalm, Stockholm, on 7 October 1990. She is of both Swedish and Gambian ancestry ...

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

and the Swedish band

Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

. In addition to his songwriting and production work, he releases alternative pop music as Vargas & Lagola.

Biography

Early life and artist career

Salem Al Fakir's father Nabil is of

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

origin and originated from

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, whereas his mother, Inger, is from Sweden. Salem is the fourth of six siblings (Aminah, Ayman,

Nassim ''NASSIM'' is a seventy five minute play (theatre), play by Nassim Soleimanpour that features new actors with no rehearsals performing each day, a format similar to Soleimanpour's prior play, ''White Rabbit Red Rabbit''. When the actor opens the se ...

, Salem, Sami and Fares). He learned to play

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

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 Adolf Fredrik's Music School () is a general municipal junior high school () in Stockholm, Sweden with a focus on choral music, and highly competitive admission based on audition in singing and musical ability. The school has two campuses and thr ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. 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 An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

'' (2009) and ''

Ignore This ''Ignore This'' is the third studio album from Swedish singer Salem Al Fakir Lars Salem Al Fakir (; born 27 October 1981) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He regularly collaborates with Vincent Pontare as the son ...

'' (2010). At the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2008 he won big – taking home four awards and being nominated in seven categories. Salem Al Fakir 20071118 Stockholm 5

He took part in

Melodifestivalen 2010 Melodifestivalen 2010 was a Swedish song contest held in February and March 2010. It was the selection for the 50th song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, and was the 49th edition of Melodifestivalen. Five heats were held in th ...

, the Swedish national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...

, with " Keep On Walking" and finished in second place.Andra Melodifestivalen jokern klar
svt.se Retrieved 20 March 2016

2010–present: Songwriting

After his solo career, Al Fakir became more focused on the songwriting. Beginning to collaborate with

on "

Silhouettes A silhouette (, ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouett ...

" in 2012. Among the first co-writes with

are

's 2013

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

single "

Hey Brother "Hey Brother" is a dance song by Swedish DJ and record producer Avicii from his debut studio album, ''True'' (2013). American bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski provides vocals for the track. It was written by Avicii, Ash Pournouri, Salem Al Fakir ...

" and " Younger" by

. At the 2014 Swedish Grammy Awards, Al Fakir,

and Magnus Lidehäll were awarded Composer of the Year after writing for

Veronica Maggio Veronica Sandra Karin Maggio (born 15 March 1981) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Born to an Italian father and a Swedish mother, Maggio was raised in Uppsala. After studying music and being the lead member of a band, Maggio released her de ...

's album '' Handen i fickan fast jag bryr mig'' and the Petter album ''Början på allt'', and work with artists like

Galantis Galantis is a Swedish electronic music act consisting of producer Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson. Formerly, they were a duo, alongside rising musician Style of Eye, until he decided to part ways with the project shortly after their second albu ...

. In 2014 he wrote numerous songs on

Mapei Mapei S.p.A. () is an Italian limited company founded in 1937 in Milan that manufactures chemical products for the building industry. History Innovation and research The company was founded and originally called ''Materiali Ausiliari per l ...

's album ''Hey Hey'' and

's " The Days" and " Divine Sorrow" (with

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

). 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

's ''

Rebel Heart ''Rebel Heart'' is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released by Interscope Records on March 6, 2015. She worked on the album throughout 2014, co-writing and co-producing it with various musicians, including Di ...

'' 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

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

-charting and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-nominated album ''

Prequelle ''Prequelle'' is the fourth studio album by the Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released on 1 June 2018 and produced by Tom Dalgety. The album's first single, "Rats", was released ahead of the album on 13 April, and as of 28 July, had peaked at n ...

'', including the album's second single " Dance Macabre" which topped

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Mainstream Rock Chart Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

. 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

– " Without You (feat.

Sandro Cavazza Alessandro Michele "Sandro" Cavazza (; born 11 September 1992) is a Swedish singer-songwriter of Italian origin. Besides his solo career he was also a member of the pop group Estraden. He names his musical influences as Eagle-Eye Cherry, Nirva ...

)" 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

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

As solo artist

Albums

Singles

Uncredited vocal work

Songwriting and production credits

Songwriting and production credits for local Swedish artists

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Planet Salem: the international Salem Al Fakir fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fakir, Salem 1981 births Living people English-language singers from Sweden Swedish people of Syrian descent 21st-century Swedish singer-songwriters 21st-century Swedish male singers Musicians from Stockholm Singers from Stockholm Swedish pop singers Swedish male singer-songwriters Swedish male songwriters