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Even if you don’t recognise her name, chances are you’ve heard Zara Larsson play on your car radio or in the mall or you caught her live performance with David Guetta at the UEFA Euro 2016 opening.
Say hi to the gorgeous blonde singer-songwriter who has infiltrated the world’s music scene with her electro-pop vocals. The 18-year-old Swede has over 18 million listeners on Spotify and two platinum singles to her name. It all began when she became famous in her homeland for winning Talang, ultimately known as Sweden’s Got Talent when she was just 10 years old.
Fast forward a few years and the Stockholm star went on to produce a massive hit with Lush Life. Now she’s virtually famous and about to take over the Billboard charts. MTV has likened her music to a swaggering, summery slice of electropop, full of handclaps and whistling and we couldn’t agree more.
Her hit duet Never Forget You with London producer MNEK was the Number 1 dance song right here in the U.S. and then there’s that infamous social media pic about a condom that went viral which we’ll get to in every gory detail later on.
For Zara the world is her stage and we look forward to seeing what she delivers next as her growing talent unravels. Do you fancy finding out more about Sweden’s hottest export? Check out 11 Things You Didn’t Know About Zara Larsson next…
11. She’s A Proud Feminist
Zara recently wrote an article for PAPER magazine about her feelings on the world and the double-standards it holds for men and women in society. She encourages young women to fight back against feminine conformity. And let’s not forget the infamous condom post that got her pic going viral. Our dear feminist Zara placed a condom on her leg, snapped a pic for Instagram as a shout out to guys who like to brag that they’re “too big” for latex. In an interview with The Guardian she revealed “I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal. And I had so many mentions in my timeline from guys, like ‘but it doesn’t feel as good with a condom on’. Well, no, but it feels better than having an STD."
10. She Performed With David Guetta At The UEFA Euro 2016 Opening
At just 18 years old, it’s fair to say that the young songstress has mastered the art of collaboration. First she teamed up with MNEK to create ‘Never Forget You’ which placed number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then she featured on Tinie Tempah’s ‘Girls Like’ single and found similar success. Zara collaborated with David Guetta for his new single ‘This One’s for You,’ which just so happens to be the new UEFA Euro 2016 official theme song. So expect it to have similar success on the charts.
9. She’s A Child Star
It may come as no surprise to discover that the 18-year-old singing star has been performing for a long, long time. Her dream to be a professional singer has led her on this path to musical greatness and saw her release her first EP at the age of 15 and she's adjusting well to the fame it brought her. That might seem young to most teens but Zara admits she’d have done it sooner if she could. She went on to tell Idolator: “I was really stressed out... I thought we were waiting way too long.” You would be mistaken in thinking that things are quietening down now for the young Swede but after her win at Sweden’s Got Talent at just age 10 and a few hit singles later, Zara is just getting warmed up it seems…
8. She’s Climbing Up The Charts
Its official – this upcoming muso has the No. 1 dance song in the U.S. with “Never Forget You,” pulling 18.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands also hold her music in high regard as her song sits in the number 5 spot. Ever watched the YouTube video for “Never Forget You” featuring MNEK? You’d be one of 78 million to do so.
7. She Loves Travelling Alone Just So She Can Listen To Music
Zara may exude contemporary lyrics and bubblegum pop, but she was nursed on the classics and surrounds herself with the sounds of vocal greats such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. The young star writes all her own music and as she’s matured so has her writing style and choice of song. Between her crazy tour schedule and performing live shows, Zara doesn’t have much free time and looks forward to the days when she’s travelling alone just so she can lose herself in music.
6. She Went On Tour With Cher Lloyd
If you’re not familiar with Cher Lloyd, she’s the English singer/songwriter who rose to fame when she appeared on the hit reality show The X Factor. She finished fourth overall and went on to become successful in her own right expanding her career to include modelling and even a little rap. Fast forward a few years and she set out to conquer her very own tour and our girl Zara was there front and centre. Zara opened up on her blog about the tour saying “It was great! We were with the Fifth Harmony girls, and they were so sweet. We had a lot of fun.”
5. She’s Obsessed With Social Media
What do you get when you mix beauty, fame and a budding obsession for filters – Zara Larsson’s Instagram account of course. With over 1.4 million followers, it’s safe to say she is an avid fan. Then again she also loves Snapchat and is a huge fan of Twitter which suits us just fine as she’s reached out to a few celebs and the results are Internet Gold. What’s the secret to her online success you ask? Zara revealed all in an interview with Idolator saying “I’m just being really real, I guess. I’m just being myself. I don’t think I’m vulgar or trying hard to be provocative. I’m just posting about things on my mind that I find interesting or funny or pretty… like a normal teenage girl. I just post that to million followers”.
4. She Features On Tinie Tempah’s Single ‘Girls Like’
We think it’s only fair that after Tinie jumped at the chance to feature on a remix of her smash hit “Lush Life” back in February 2016 that she team up with him for “Girls like”. The single gives the world a sneak peek into the rapper’s latest material which is set to be released later this year. It hasn’t taken long before the collab became featured on the UK Singles Charts Top 10, proving Zara Larsson can do no wrong. The visuals were actually filmed in South Africa and pay tribute to his African heritage. We look forward to seeing what lies ahead for the dynamic pairing.
3. She Believes Life Begins At 25
Many people believe your life truly begins at 25 and for Zara Larsson this is the case. So where does our petite star hope to be by then? “Ummm … I would love to have a world tour, or two, or three. No, two, not three. Whatever! And maybe a couple of Grammy's. Some No 1 songs ...” she revealed in a one on one with Aol.com recently. Let’s see, she’s won a reality singing show at age 10, produced hit singles and gone platinum and collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry. We tend to believe that this is just the beginning for the Swedish star and look forward to what she has planned next.
2. Two Songs That Went Platinum
She may be young in age but she has experience beyond her years as she proves time and time again that she has the makings of a star. Zara and MNEK recently celebrated their track going gold in the summer and has now gone platinum. This makes it Zara’s second track to go platinum as she is no newcomer to being top of the charts. Her first single “Lush Life” took over the airwaves and infiltrated MTV and the likes with constant airplay. The song reached the top 5 in Australia, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom.
1. She Is The Queen Of Twitter
Let it not be said lightly that Zara Larsson is ultimately the Queen of Twitter. She may be 18 years old but when you got it you got it. A few pearls of wisdom include:
“I'm in London. Rihanna is in London. I could only mean one thing, Rihanna is stalking me.”
“So Blac Chyna is pregnant? Tyga and her kids will be siblings and cousins? I'm so confused.”
“I really wanna be like Beyoncé on stage, but since I discovered how much you need to work out for that I might just wanna be Adele on stage.”
Sources:wikipedia.org; www.theguardian.com
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