A CHILD PIANIST AND SON OF TWO CLASSICALLY TRAINED MUSICIANS, THE GRAMMY-WINNING PRODUCER AND MASTER TURNTABLIST DASHES ELECTRONIC GENRES WITH SURGICAL FINESSE

BY TIA KIM

BORN: Anton Zaslavski was born in Saratov, Russia in 1989 and was raised in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

SOUND: Motivated by his parent’s musical prowess Zedd’s father was a guitarist and his mother a piano instructor Zedd began building his classical repertoire on the piano at only four years old and picked up the drums eight years later. His classical training would translate over to his grownup sound: clean, precise, and methodically produced. And while it fits in the greater electro house camp, he continues to experiment (and succeed) in other arenas like hip-hop, dance pop, and dubstep.

BIG BREAK: The DJ signed with Inter scope in 2012 and soon released his debut album, Clarity. Its first single, “Spectrum,” featured Matthew Koma on vocals and became a massive hit, clawings its way to #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Song chart.

NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Zedd had been with Interscope for only a year when he nabbed his first GRAMMY in the Best Dance Recording category for “Clarity” featuring Foxes. He’s since teamed up with some of the industry’s most recognizable voices, including Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, and Katy Perry. With “Stay” (2017) featuring Alessia Cara, Zedd earned his first number one spot on the Top 40 charts. Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey’s “The Middle” rose to the top of Billboard’s Pop Songs radio airplay chart in 2018.

WHAT’S NEXT: Originally slated for a 2020 release, Zedd’s third studio album, a follow up to 2015’s True Colors, was put on standby due to the pandemic. The artist noted he couldn’t find the inspiration during such a dark time to do it justice. Zedd has, however, made it clear to fans that the new music will be worth the wait.

FAVORITE PASTIME: “Marinating” in a Jacuzzi.