Alan Walker

Alan Walker is a British-Norwegian record producer and DJ based in London. He starts out as a bedroom producer and draws early inspiration from EDM acts K-391 and Ahrix, as well as film composers Hans Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky. He is first known under the name DJ Walkzz before signing to NoCopyrightSounds.

Breakthrough and early singles

His debut single, “Fade”, appears in 2014 and becomes his breakout release. In 2015 he follows it with “Spectre” and “Force”. Later that year he releases “Faded”, a remastered vocal version of “Fade”, featuring uncredited vocals from Naustdal singer Iselin Solheim. The track becomes his best-known single and charts widely around the world.

Albums and collaborations

“Faded” is the lead single from his debut album, Different World, which also includes several of his most familiar songs. These include “Sing Me To Sleep” with Iselin Solheim, “Alone” with uncredited vocals from Noonie Bao, and “Darkside” with Au/Ra and Tomine Harket. Different World is officially released in 2018 and accumulates billions of streams on Spotify, with “Faded” becoming his most streamed track there and passing 1 billion streams.

His second studio album, World of Walker, is released in 2021. It contains 15 tracks in total, including the songs “On My Way” with Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko, “Alone, Pt. II” with Ava Max, “Fake A Smile” with salem ilese, and “Heading Home” with Ruben. He later releases Walkerverse in two parts. The first part includes a remix of “Adventure Time” with Philter, “Somebody Like U” with Au/Ra, “Blue” with Ina Wroldsen, “The Drum” featuring uncredited vocals by Kristin Carpenter, and “Hello World” with Torine. Walkerverse, Pt. II adds “Extremes” with Trevor Daniel, “Shut Up” with UPSAHL, “Catch Me If You Can” with Sorana, “Lovesick” with Sophie Simmons, and “Ritual”.

Image and output

Walker is known for performing in a hoodie and face mask, and for a logo based on intertwined initials. He says this helps him keep a low profile, and also describes the mask as a symbol of unity and similarity. Across his career he builds a large online following, with more than 40 million YouTube subscribers and around 50 billion audio and video streams.