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 Vargas & Lagola are a Swedish songwriting and production duo of Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir. They have worked with many artists, including Avicii, Axwell & Ingrosso, David Guetta, Galantis, Madonna and Seinabo Sey. In addition to the ...

. 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 music producer. At the age of 16, Bergling began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first rec ...

Axwell & Ingrosso Axwell & Ingrosso (stylised as Axwell Λ Ingrosso) is a Swedish DJ duo consisting of Swedish House Mafia members Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso. They made their debut performance at the 2014 Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City in Jun ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Seinabo Sey Seinabo Sey (born 7 October 1990) is a Swedish singer and songwriter 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 ...

and

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

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

Biography

Early life and artist career

Al Fakir learned to play

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

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 ( sv, Adolf Fredriks Musikklasser) is a general municipal junior high school ( sv, grundskola) in Stockholm, Sweden with a focus on choral music, and highly competitive admission based on audition in singing and mu ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. 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 human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

'' (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. Salem Al Fakir 20071118 Stockholm 5

He took part in

Melodifestivalen 2010 Melodifestivalen 2010 was a Swedish song contest held between 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 ...

, 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 silhou ...

" in 2012. Among the first co-writes with

are

's 2013

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' 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), radio play, and online streaming ...

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 Fak ...

" and " Younger" by

. At the 2014 Swedish Grammy Awards, Al Fakir,

and

Magnus Lidehäll Magnus Lidehäll is a Swedish award winning producer, composer and songwriter. He works close with songwriting duo Vargas & Lagola – with whom he won the composer of the year award at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2014. Together they have produc ...

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 ''Handen i fickan fast jag bryr mig'' ''( English: Hand in My Pocket Although I Care)'' is the fourth studio album released by Swedish singer and songwriter Veronica Maggio. The album was released in Sweden on 4 October 2013 through Universal Mu ...

'' and the Petter album ''Början på allt'', and work with artists like

Galantis Galantis is a Swedish electronic dance music production, songwriting and DJ duo consisting of Christian Karlsson (DJ), Christian Karlsson and Style of Eye, Linus Eklöw. Karlsson is also known as Bloodshy as part of two other musical groups, a d ...

. 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 Autarchici per ...

's album ''Hey Hey'' and

's " The Days" and "

Divine Sorrow "Divine Sorrow" is a song by Haitian hip hop recording artist Wyclef Jean from his EP ''J'ouvert''. Credited with the mononym Wyclef on the official cover of the single, it also features Swedish DJ and producer Avicii. The song was released as the ...

" (with

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

). 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

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

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 and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

-charting and

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

-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 ...

'', including the album's second single "

Dance Macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification ...

" 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 advertise ...

Mainstream Rock Chart Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...

. 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 Cavazza (; born 11 September 1992), mostly known as Sandro Cavazza, is a Swedish songwriter and former singer of Italian origin. Besides his solo career he was also a member of the pop group Estraden. He names his musical infl ...

)" 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 Melodifestivalen contestants Swedish people of Syrian descent 21st-century Swedish singers 21st-century Swedish male singers Male singer-songwriters Musicians from Stockholm Singers from Stockholm Sommar (radio program) hosts Swedish pop singers Swedish singer-songwriters Swedish songwriters