Zak David Zilesnick (born 1 March 1995 in London), better known as Zak Abel, is an English-Moroccan singer, songwriter and musician. He has also been an English Cadet national table tennis champion.
Early and personal life
His father, who had been born in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
and
emigrated to Israel
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
, died when Zilesnick was 12 years old.
Zilesnick is
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. He grew up in
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...
with his mother Rachel, and attended the Jewish state school Matilda Marks, and
University College School
("Slowly but surely")
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day school
, religion =
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Mark Beard
, r_head_label =
, r_hea ...
, from which he graduated in 2013.
He has moved to
Hackney.
Zilesnick is a vegan.
Musician
Zilesnick won a competition to sing at a ''
Yom Haatzmaut
Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies ...
'' celebration in
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
when he was in primary school.
He is most notable for his featured appearance on the UK top 20 hit "
Unmissable" with
Gorgon City
Gorgon City are an English electronic music production duo consisting of two North London producers Kye "Foamo" Gibbon and Matt "RackNRuin" Robson-Scott. Their 2013 debut single "Real" peaked at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart. They are also we ...
. He has also released two extended plays, entitled ''Joker presents Zak Abel'' and ''One Hand on the Future''.
In 2016, he worked with producers such as
Kaytranada
Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian record producer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of mixtapes, remixes, ...
and
Wookie on his debut album, ''Only When We're Naked'', which was released on 6 October 2017,
and debuted at number 100 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
.
He was signed by
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
.
[">"Zak Abel: From table tennis star to music sensation" — Table Tennis England]
/ref>
Table tennis
He was ranked No. 1 in the Cadet age group in England and was 2009 Cadet Boys' Singles national champion at the age of 14; he was also ranked No. 5 for under 18s in England. Between 2008 and 2010 he won the Under 15 national singles and Under 18 doubles titles. In 2010 he was ranked number 39 in the senior category.
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
;As lead artist
;As featured artist
Other appearances
Songwriting credits
References
External links
Official website
Instagram
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Zak
1995 births
Living people
British contemporary R&B singers
English male singer-songwriters
English soul singers
English Jews
Jewish table tennis players
British people of Moroccan-Jewish descent
People from Hendon
People from the London Borough of Hackney
21st-century English male singers
21st-century English singers
English male table tennis players