Zedd

Zedd reached mainstream success with “Clarity,” the 2012 single featuring Foxes that peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Best Dance Recording at the 56th Grammy Awards. The track was the third single from his debut album, Clarity, and helped bring his polished electronic production into pop radio. A deluxe edition of the album later produced “Stay the Night,” featuring Hayley Williams, a US top 20 single.

Born Anton Zaslavski on 2 September 1989, Zedd is a German record producer and DJ associated with Kaiserslautern, where he was raised, and with Saratov, Russia. His stage name comes from “zed,” the English pronunciation of the letter Z and the first letter of his surname. Before his work as Zedd, he played drums in his brother’s metal band, Dioramic. He began developing his career as a producer and DJ after sending Skrillex a message and demo through social media, and signed the 2011 single “Shave It Up” to Skrillex’s OWSLA label.

His second studio album, True Colors, arrived in 2015. Its lead single, “I Want You to Know,” featuring Selena Gomez, became his third Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hit. Zedd also appeared on Ariana Grande’s 2014 single “Break Free,” which reached number four on the Hot 100, extending his role as a producer and collaborator across electronic and pop music.

Later singles included 2017’s “Stay” with Alessia Cara, which peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Get Low” with Liam Payne. In 2018, “The Middle,” with Maren Morris and Grey, reached number five on the chart. Zedd released his third studio album, Telos, on 30 August 2024.