Darin

Darin Zanyar (June 2, 1987), or simply Darin, is a Swedish singer of Kurdish descent and one of the best-selling Swedish artists of all time. Born and raised in Stockholm, he grew up in a musical family and started singing from a very young age, inspired by the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Whitney Houston. After being scouted by a music producer in school, Darin began writing and recording his own material. In 2004, he jumped to fame on the first season of the reality show Swedish Idol, where he became a fan favorite and ended up as runner-up. This led to a record deal with SonyBMG, who released his studio debut The Anthem in 2005. Propelled by the Robyn-penned hit single “Money for Nothing,” the album shot straight to the top of the Swedish charts, obtaining gold certification in the process. An eponymous full-length saw the light towards the end of the year, also achieving pole position in Sweden. In 2006, Darin received the Swedish Grammi for Song of the Year for “Money for Nothing” and released Break the News, a hit-ridden album that debuted at Number 1 on the Sverigetopplistan. With the exception of Flashback (2008), which only made it to the Top 10, all of Darin’s subsequent albums—Lovekiller (2010), Exit (2013), Fjärilar i magen (2015), and Tvillingen (2017)—topped the Swedish charts and were certified either gold or platinum. In the following years, Darin dropped the singles "Astronaut" (2018), "Identitetslös" (2018), "Hög" (2019), "Finns inga ord" (2019), and "En säng av rosor” (2020), an acoustic ballad written with Peter Kvint that reached Number 7 in Sweden. “Can’t Stay Away,” his first English single since 2013, saw the light in 2021.