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There's always good things when times are bad, [but if] you only look at the bad things, you get hung up. I think sometimes it's good to just step away for a second, look at the positive things and all the good things we have.

–Zedd[1]


Anton Zaslavski, more commonly known under his stage name Zedd, is a Grammy-Award winning Russian-German electronic music producer. Classically trained in music, he started playing the piano at the age of four; his musical career began in 2009, and he signed with Interscope Records a few years after, releasing his debut album, Clarity, in October. He has worked with English singer Louisa Rose Allen (known under the name Foxes) on "Clarity", and Hayley Williams—lead singer of the American rock band Paramore—on "Stay the Night", among others. His second album, True Colors, was released in the U.S. in May 2015.

Early life[]

Zaslavski was born in Saratov, Russia, to Igor[2] and Marina[2] Zaslavski, both of whom have musical backgrounds. At the age of four, he began to play the piano, gradually building up his knowledge of music throughout his childhood years. When he was twelve, Zaslavski first learned to play the drums;[3] soon after, he began to perform with Dioramic, a post-hardcore/metal band, and started composing songs in their studio.[3]

As time went on, he became more aware of other musical genres, and in 2009, he moved into the EDM (electronic dance music) genre after hearing the French electronic duo Jus†ice's album .[4]

Career[]

2009[]

A few months after beginning his work, Zedd won two remix contests—the "Armand Van Helden / Strictly Rhythm Remix Contest" and the "Fatboy Slim / Skint Remix Contest". After being found by Skrillex via MySpace, he was signed to an OWSLA label; soon after, he caught the attention of Interscope A&R Dave Rene and Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine. Later, he released several official remixes for artists like Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, P. Diddy, Swedish House Mafia, and Skrillex on labels such as Interscope, mau5trap and EMI.

2010[]

On 24 July, he released a remix of FLX's "I Feel Untouched".

From mid-August to early October, Zedd supported deadmau5 on his Meowingtons Hax Tour.

On 18 October, Zedd's remix of Dan Thomas and MAB's "This Year" was released onto Beatport. Four days later, on 22 October, his remix of Skrillex's "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" was also released.

On 3 December, his remix of David May's "Facebook Love" was released as well.

2011[]

On 11 February, Zedd released The Anthem—his first extended play.

Almost a month and a half later, on 28 March, Autonomy was released.

American progressive metal band Periphery released an extended play featuring a Zedd remix of their song "Icarus Lives!" on 19 April.

Zedd's remix of Swedish House Mafia's "Save the World" was released onto Beatport on 24 July.[5]

Zedd's remix of Lady Gaga's track "Born This Way" appeared on the special edition of her third studio album, Born This Way.[6] In September, his single "Shave It" premiered as a thirty second teaser on Skrillex's YouTube page, this being Zedd's first release on OWSLA records.

On 8 November, Shave It - The Aftershave was released.

2012[]

Zedd's "Spectrum" extended play was released on 31 July.

Zedd in the studio with Porter Robinson

Zedd in the studio with Porter Robinson in 2012

He signed with Interscope Records and released his debut studio album, Clarity, in October. The album's first single, "Spectrum", featuring Cherrytree Records recording artist Matthew Koma, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Song chart and ultimately was named their Dance Club Song of the year. iTunes also named the Clarity album as their Breakthrough Album of 2012.[7] Later in October, Zedd and Porter Robinson embarked on Poseidon - The Back to Back Tour, during which "Spectrum" was a featured track.

During the year, Zedd also produced the Eva Simons song "I Don't Like You"—which was also released on Interscope—and produced and co-wrote the third single, "Beauty and a Beat", for Canadian singer Justin Bieber's third studio album, Believe, with Max Martin.[8]

2013[]

Zedd produced three songs—"Aura", "G.U.Y.", and "Donatella"—from Lady Gaga's album Artpop[9] (as well as two other songs—"Onion Girl" and "Temple"—that did not make the final cut) and also "Heaven" from Namie Amuro's album Feel.[10]

On 3 January, Zedd and Foxes performed "Clarity" on Late Show With David Letterman.[11]

Clarity (Remixes) was released on 12 February.

On 28 May, his single "Codec" was featured on the soundtrack for the 2013 American crime thriller film Now You See Me.

On 21 June, he performed "Clarity" alongside Foxes and The Roots on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.[12] On 29 June, deadmau5 posted a tweet on Twitter describing a dream he once had involving Zedd, giving rise to the annual #zeddception Twitter trend.

Zedd playing the piano in the Stay the Night music video

Zedd on the set of the music video for "Stay the Night"

On 23 August, "Into the Lair"—an instrumental composition produced exclusively for the soundtrack for the film adaptation of American author Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones—was released.[13] Throughout the rest of the year (beginning 26 August), Zedd embarked on the Moment of Clarity Tour, covering various countries across five different continents.

On 10 September, "Stay the Night"—the fourth single from Clarity and the eleventh track of its deluxe edition—was released; the song charted at No. 8 on iTunes after 24 hours.[14]

On 22 December, Zedd and KDrew released an extended remixed version of "Stay the Night" onto YouTube.[15]

2014[]

Zedd and Foxes at the 2014 GRAMMYs

Zedd with Foxes during the 56th GRAMMY Awards

On 26 January, he released the single "Find You", which features Matthew Koma and Miriam Bryant and is included on the soundtrack for the first film adaptation of American author Veronica Roth's best-selling young-adult novel trilogy Divergent.[16] That same day, "Clarity" won a GRAMMY Award for "Best Dance Recording" at the 56th annual GRAMMY Awards.

Zedd, Koma, and Bryant performed "Find You" live on the outdoor stage of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 3 February.[3]

On March 28, he performed at the year's Ultra Music Festival as part of "Phase One" of its lineup.

On 9 April, Find You (Remixes) was released. Zedd, Koma, and Bryant also performed "Find You" once again—this time at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards—on 13 April.[17]

Ariana Grande released a song with him entitled "Break Free" on July 3, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs. The song, which also appears on My Everything—Grande's second studio album—was nominated at the Teen Choice Awards in the category of "Break-Up Song" as well.[18]

On 2 August, Zedd remixed "Rude"—a single by Canadian reggae fusion band Magic!—at Lollapalooza. Twenty-two days later, on 24 August, he took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, nominating Grande, Jared Leto, and Ken Floyd to take part in it as well.[19]

2015[]

"I Want You to Know", which features Selena Gomez and was co-written by Ryan Tedder and KDrew, was released on 23 February.

Beginning 18 March and ending exactly two months later, the Zedd True Colors Experience event series took place in ten different cities across the United States in order to premiere songs from Zedd's second album, True Colors, to select fans.

Zedd and Jon Bellion performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Zedd performing with Jon Bellion on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2015

On 18 May—the day of the last Experience—True Colors was released. Three days later, Zedd performed the album's second single—"Beautiful Now"—with Jon Bellion on Jimmy Kimmel Live![20]

On 10 June, Zedd became the first electronic musician ever to perform at the CMT Music Awards, performing alongside Lady Antebellum.[21] On 21 June, he performed "Illusion" alongside Sydney Sierota of Echosmith at a Firefly set.[22] On the last day of the month, he posted a three-minute fifty-second instrumental song demo onto iTunes, along with a note saying that he wanted fans to help him find a vocal for the track.[23]

Beautiful Now (Remixes) was released onto iTunes on 10 July.

In August, Zedd embarked on his True Colors Tour.

2016[]

On 26 February, he released a single with Aloe Blacc entitled "Candyman" to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the American candy brand M&M's.

Zedd performed on the main stage at the 2016 Ultra Music Festival on 20 March.[24]

He premiered his True Colors documentary, Zedd True Colors, on 2 June. Also during the month, Zedd performed at the 2016 Ever After Music Festival and at the Las Vegas Electric Daisy Carnival.

On 9 and 10 December, he will perform at the 2016 Djakarta Warehouse Project festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.

2017[]

After taking a break from making music, he released a single with Alessia Cara entitled "Stay". The music video was later released on the 18th of April.

Zedd created headphones called "Double Zero", which was released on April 19. You can purchase you own pair for around $200. These headphones were created in Japan so in May, Zedd and is team traveled to Japan to promote his headphones. He had also opened up a pop-up shop in Japan for a few days for his fans in Japan.

Zedd was given the chance to preform at Wembley Stadium in June.

On June 19, Zedd announced on Instagram about his fall headline tour, the "ECHO TOUR", with Grey and Lophille. Throughout September to November, he toured around the North American tour dates.

On July 6th, Zedd released his single with Liam Payne entitled "Get Low".

2018[]

On January 26, 2018 Zedd released a new song with Grey featuring Maren Morris called The Middle.

Personal life[]

Friendships[]

Skrillex[]

Main article: Skrillex
Zedd and Skrillex in 2013

Skrillex and Zedd first connected after the latter sent the former a song over MySpace. In 2011, Skrillex signed him to OWSLA and helped him release his first single on the label, "Shave It". A remixed version of Skrillex's "Breakn' a Sweat" is also included on Zedd's debut album, Clarity.

Madeon[]

Main article: Madeon
Zedd and Madeon at an airport

Madeon and Zedd at an airport

Zedd and Madeon revealed themselves to be friends via social media sites such as Twitter. Both of them also produced songs from Lady Gaga's ARTPOP. In 2015, Madeon also supported Zedd during several True Colors Tour shows.

Selena Gomez[]

Main article: Selena Gomez#Relationship
Zedd and Selena Gomez (1)

Gomez and Zedd at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards

Zedd and Gomez were dating from at least January to April 2015. It was first revealed on 5 December 2014 that Zedd would be working with Gomez on her second studio album; and in addition, they have collaborated with each other on "I Want You to Know".

Awards and Nominations[]

Year Ceremony Recipient Category Result
2013 Popdust Zedd Next Pop Superstar of 2013 Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards "Clarity" (feat. Foxes) Artist To Watch Nominated
American Music Awards Zedd Favorite Electronic Music Artist Nominated
2014 Grammy Awards "Clarity" (feat. Foxes) Best Dance Recording Won
iHeartRadio Music Awards "Clarity" EDM Song of the Year Nominated
Billboard Music Awards Zedd Top Dance/Electronic Artist Nominated
"Clarity" Top Dance/Electronic Song Nominated
Clarity Top Dance/Electronic Album Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Zedd Choice Music – Electronic Dance Music Artist Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards "Stay the Night" MTV Clubland Award Won
MTV Europe Music Awards Zedd Best Push Act Nominated

Trivia[]

  • Both of Zedd's parents are Russian, though his surname—Zaslavski—is Polish.[25]
    • His stage name comes from the word "Zed"—a chiefly British term for the letter Z or z.[26] He chose the name because his surname begins with a Z.[27]
  • He doesn't have a middle name.[28]
  • In an interview, Zedd revealed that he writes most of his songs on a piano before producing them.[29]
    • He creates his music using the Cubase suite of music production applications, and uses plug-ins such as the Sylenth1, Nexus, SynthMaster 2.6, and Omnisphere synthesizers, and the Kontakt sampler.[30]
  • During his school years, he had a friend who shared his real first name. To avoid confusion, they'd begun referring to each other by the first letter of their respective surnames.[31]
  • His least-liked subject in school was French.[32]
  • Zedd has stated before that his fanbase does not have a name.[33]

Galleries[]

2011[]

2012[]

2013[]

2014[]

2015[]

2016[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. Bein, Kat (November 23, 2016). "Zedd Will Stay in U.S. Despite Trump Victory & Spread Positivity Through Music: 'No Minor Chords Anymore'". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/dance/7587962/zedd-donald-trump-election-2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Zedd - Moment of Clarity (Documentary)". YouTube. ZEDDVEVO. 21 December 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2AjlTLdU1M. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Zedd's official website". http://www.zedd.net. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  4. "An Early Christmas Gift! An Interview With Zedd. « 310 Electro". 310electro.com. http://www.310electro.com/2010/12/an-early-christmas-gift-an-interview-with-zedd/. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  5. Zaslavski, Anton (24 July 2011). "BOOM! My Remix for Swedish House Mafia's "SAVE THE WORLD" has just been released on Beatport!!!!". Facebook. Zedd. https://www.facebook.com/Zedd/posts/142089122538992. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  6. Daw, Robbie (21 October 2011). "Lady Gaga’s "Born This Way: The Remix" & "The Collection" Covers Revealed". Idolator. http://www.idolator.com/6051871/lady-gagas-born-this-way-the-remix-the-collection-cover. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  7. Zaslavski, Anton (15 December 2012). "OMG!!!!! Just read that iTunes picked CLARITY as their "Breakthrough Album" of 2012!!! WAAAAAHH!!!!!!!!!". Facebook. Zedd. https://www.facebook.com/Zedd/photos/a.112537822109186.13011.107281645968137/544044182291879/. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  8. Vena, Jocelyn (17 October 2012). "Justin Bieber Didn't "Convince" "Beauty And A Beat" Producer Zedd At First". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1695750/justin-bieber-zedd-beauty-beat.jhtml. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  9. Vena, Jocelyn (22 January 2013). "Lady Gaga Has "A Lot Of Work Left" On ARTPOP Songs". http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1700630/lady-gaga-zedd-artpop-album-update.jhtml. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  10. St. Michel, Patrick (14 August 2013). "Namie Amuro "Feel"". The Japan Times. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/08/14/music/cd-reviews/namie-amuro-feel/. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  11. Zaslavski, Anton (4 January 2013). "Thanks everyone who watched me on Letterman last night so late!! I can't believe we did this!!!!!!! Crazy!!!!! In case you missed it; here you can re-watch my live performance of Clarity on Letterman!!". Facebook. Zedd. https://www.facebook.com/Zedd/posts/190961217714099. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  12. Zaslavski, Anton (20 June 2013). "Soooo happy I was given the unique opportunity to perform this live version of Clarity with Foxes and The Roots last night!!! You can re-watch it here.... PS: there's little surprise at the end!!". Facebook. Zedd. https://www.facebook.com/Zedd/posts/642737095755920. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  13. Zaslavski, Anton (23 August 2013). "INTO THE LAIR, the song I made for the movie "The Mortal Instruments" is OUT NOW!!! Grab it here". Facebook. Zedd. https://www.facebook.com/Zedd/posts/675896619106634.
  14. Zaslavski, Anton (11 September 2013). "#8 on iTunes after 1 day... Absolutely unreal!!!! Don't know how to thank you guys for the support!!! This means so much to me and Hayley!! In case you haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, you can download it here: http://smarturl.it/StayTheNightiTunes". Facebook. Zedd. https://www.facebook.com/Zedd/photos/a.112537822109186.13011.107281645968137/686373221392307/. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  15. Zaslavski, Anton (22 December 2013). "Full version of the Stay The Night remix I made with KDrew is now up on my YouTube. Enjoy your holidays, everyone!!!!". Facebook. Zedd. https://www.facebook.com/Zedd/posts/750937798269182. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  16. Rigby, Sam (18 March 2014). "Zedd premieres Divergent music video for "Find You" - watch". DigitalSpy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a558392/zedd-premieres-divergent-music-video-for-find-you-watch.html. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  17. Erlich, Brenna (14 April 2014). "Ellie Goulding And Zedd’s ‘Divergent’ Performance Had Us Reaching For Tissues". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/1726067/ellie-goulding-zedd-movie-awards-performance/. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  18. Salerno, Mandi (17 July 2014). "2014 Teen Choice Awards Nominees Announced". Popcrush. http://popcrush.com/2014-teen-choice-awards-nominees/. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  19. "Zedd Ice Bucket Challenge". YouTube. ZEDDVEVO. 24 August 2014. https://youtu.be/cQS9fUu5ZEM. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  20. Zaslavski, Anton (May 21, 2015). "Performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight!!! Tune in :)!!". Twitter. @Zedd. https://twitter.com/Zedd/status/601527210722201600. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  21. "Zedd to Be The First Electronic Performer at CMT Music Awards". EDM Sauce. 8 June 2015. http://www.edmsauce.com/2015/06/08/zedd-to-be-the-first-electronic-performer-at-cmt-music-awards/. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  22. "Had a lot of fun singing "Illusion" last night @Zedd". Twitter. @echosmith. June 20, 2015. https://twitter.com/echosmith/status/612270543484637184. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  23. "GUYS!!! Here is a track demo I’ve produced that I LOVE but never finished. I haven’t been able to find the perfect vocal and I want your help!! Send me your ideas to: ConnectWithZedd@zedd.net!! Let’s Connect!!!! :) – Anton". iTunes (US). 30 June 2015. https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/idsa.92f9e968-1f73-11e5-b1fd-8ce37b3c0a50. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  24. "Lineup - Ultra Music Festival". Ultra Music Festival. https://ultramusicfestival.com/lineup/. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  25. "Coffee Run! ft. Zedd". YouTube. 13 May 2015. https://youtu.be/-Khzxke-i8M. Retrieved 1 March 2015. "The name is Polish; my parents are from Russia..."
  26. "Definition of "zed" - British English Dictionary". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/zed. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  27. "Coffee Run! ft. Zedd". YouTube. 13 May 2015. https://youtu.be/-Khzxke-i8M. Retrieved 1 March 2015. "The first letter of my last name is a zed."
  28. Zaslavski, Anton (4 October 2015). "@_RebecaQuinn I don't have a middle name lol". Twitter. @Zedd. https://twitter.com/Zedd/status/650783082728042497. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  29. Carley, Brennan (15 May 2015). "Q&A: Zedd Adjusts to the Limelight and Gets Back to His Roots on ‘True Colors’". SPIN. http://www.spin.com/2015/05/zedd-true-colors-interview-new-album/. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  30. Abascal, Lina (1 December 2012). "In The Studio With Zedd: Going for Clarity". DJ Times. http://djtimes.com/in-the-studio-with-zedd-going-for-clarity/. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  31. O'Malley Greenburg, Zack (14 August 2013). "Zedd Ahead: Meet The Next Big Star Of Electronic Music". Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2013/08/14/zedd-ahead-meet-the-next-big-star-of-electronic-music/. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  32. VEVO (18 November 2015). "Zedd - ASK:REPLY". YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi59sg92sro. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  33. Zaslavski, Anton (3 December 2013). "@ahmadhugo my fanbase doesn't have a name. everyone has an individual name.". Twitter. @Zedd. https://twitter.com/Zedd/status/407806362165334016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
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