Childhood & Early Life
Alan Olav Walker was born on August 24, 1997, in Northampton, England. His father, Philip Alan Walker, is of British origin, and his mother, Hilde Omdal Walker, is of Norwegian origin. Walker holds dual citizenship (Norway and Britain). He has an elder sister, Camilla Joy, and a younger brother, Andreas.
In his early years, Walker was inclined towards computers, and graphic designing. In 2012, he listened to a song composed by David Whistle. Walker contacted the musician, to understand how the music was produced. After listening to music composers, such as Hans Zimmer, and Steve Jablonsky, Walker became more interested in music production. He did not receive any formal training in music. Walker learned music production by watching the ‘YouTube’ tutorials on the topic.
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Career
In 2012, Alan Walker started pursuing music as a career. He started producing music on his laptop, with the help of the digital audio workstation, ‘FL Studio.’ He posted his music on ‘YouTube,’ and ‘SoundCloud,’ and took feedback from listeners.
In August 2014, Walker released his track, ‘Fade.’ In November 2014, it was re-released with the record label, ‘NoCopyrightSounds.’ The track became immensely popular. It has over 300 million views on ‘YouTube,’ 70 million plays on ‘Spotify,’ and 20 million streams on ‘SoundCloud.’
In December 2015, Walker released the single track, ‘Faded,’ with the music production company, ‘MER Musikk.’ It was a remastered version of his earlier track, ‘Fade.’ It featured the Norwegian pop singer Iselin Solheim. This track was more popular than its original version. Music lovers around the world embraced the song, and it topped the year-end charts in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden. It has over 1.9 billion views on ‘YouTube.’ The song found place in the list of top 10 most-liked ‘YouTube’ videos.
In 2015, Alan Walker released the tracks, ‘Spectre,’ and ‘Force.’ In February 2016, Walker gave his debut live performance, at the ‘Winter X games,’ held in Oslo. He performed 15 tracks, including ‘Faded.’ In April 2016, Walker performed at the ‘Echo Awards,’ in Germany. Swedish singer Zara Larsson accompanied him on stage.
In June 2016, Walker released the song, ‘Sing Me to Sleep,’ which featured singer Iselin Solheim. This was also a big success, and has over 400 million views on ‘YouTube.’ In December 2016, he released the song ‘Alone,’ featuring the Swedish singer Noonie Bao. This song was described as the final piece of Walker’s trilogy - the other two being ‘Faded,’ and Sing Me to Sleep.’
In December 2016, Walker held the first concert in his hometown, Bergen. It was titled ‘Alan Walker is Heading Home.’ In the concert, he performed with singers, such as Angelina Jordan, Alexandra Rotan, and Tove Styrke. It was live-streamed on ‘YouTube.’ Walker premiered several unreleased tracks in this concert. He performed the song, ‘The Spectre,’ which was the remastered version of his earlier track, ‘Spectre.’
In 2017, Alan Walker released the instrumental version of the song, ‘Ignite.’ It featured Norwegian music producer K-391. In May 2017, he recorded his first song with Irish singer Gavin James. The song was titled ‘Tired.’ Walker described it as a song that “adds another dimension to his productions.” In October 2017, Walker released the song, ‘All Falls Down,’ featuring American singer, Noah Cyrus, and British record producer ‘Digital Farm Animals.’
In 2018, Walker became the top ‘YouTuber’ in Norway, with more than 15 million subscribers. In May 2018, Walker, together with K-391, released the vocal version of the song, ‘Ignite,’ which featured Norwegian singer Julie Bergan, and South Korean singer Seungri. In July 2018, he released the song, ‘Darkside,’ featuring Au/Ra, and Tomine Harket.
Personal Life
Alan Walker has kept his personal life a closely-guarded matter. He is not married, and is not known to be in any relation. Though Walker is active on social media, he avoids disclosing his personal affairs.
Walker is known for his unique attire during stage performances. He is always seen wearing a hoodie, and a mask that covers half of his face. Walker explains that he likes to maintain anonymity while being a public figure. He has created a logo for his music, which consists of the two letters, ‘A’ and ‘W,’ intertwined.
