Quick Facts
Virgo
Biography
Ilya Salmanzadeh (/sɑːlmənˈzɑːdə/; born 19 September 1986 in Stockholm), known mononymously as ILYA, is a Swedish-Persian songwriter, producer and singer. He rose to prominence after co-writing and producing Ariana Grande's "Problem" and Jennifer Lopez's "First Love".
Career
In 2005 at the age of 19, Ilya signed with Warner/Chappell Music in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2009, he graduated from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California. "Miss Me", Mohombi & Nelly's song in 2010, was Ilya's first internationally acclaimed production. In 2011, he produced "Mama" and "Reba" from The Lonely Island's Grammy-nominated album, Turtleneck & Chain. In 2013, he produced Cher Lloyd's song, "I Wish", and Fifth Harmony's award-winning song, "Me & My Girls".
Alongside Max Martin, he co-wrote and produced Ariana Grande's "Problem" and Jennifer Lopez's "First Love" in 2014. "Problem" went on to become one of the fastest-selling singles in iTunes history before winning a Teen Choice Award, VMA and EMA months later. In June 2014, Ilya was nominated for the Denniz Pop Awards, an annual prize handed out to up-and-coming musicians. "Bang Bang", co-produced by Ilya, was released as a joint single by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj on 29 July 2014 to universal acclaim. In January 2015, Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do", co-written by Ilya, was released for the soundtrack album to the motion picture, Fifty Shades of Grey, becoming the most-streamed song in a week on Spotify. In May 2015, he remixed Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" with Kendrick Lamar, which became his first No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
He co-wrote and produced large parts of Ariana Grande's later albums Sweetener and thank u, next. In 2019, Salmanzadeh co-wrote and produced Beyoncé's Grammy-nominated song "SPIRIT". He also worked on the production of Labrinth's singles "Miracle" and "Oblivion" (which features Sia), both taken from his sophomore solo album, Imagination & the Misfit Kid.
Discography
Singles
- As lead artist
- 2007: "Used To Be"
- As featured artist
- 2009: "Get You on the Pool" (Kocky & Trash featuring Ilya)
- 2011: "Got It Like That" (Lazee ft. Ilya)
Production discography
Ilya's works include:
| Year | Title | Album | Songwriter | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | "Karma" | Darin Zanyar – Flashback |  Y | Y |
| "Road Trip" | Y | Y | ||
| 2010 | "Miss Me" | Mohombi – MoveMeant | Y | Y |
| 2011 | "Alienized" | Linda Pritchard – Alive | Y | Y |
| "Crying in the Rain" | Y | Y | ||
| "Dance Your Tears Away" | Y | |||
| "Erase & Rewind" | Y | Y | ||
| "Glorious" | Y | Y | ||
| "Miracle" | Y | Y | ||
| "Not Even Hello" | Y | Y | ||
| "On Time" | Y | Y | ||
| "Rise Again" | Y | Y | ||
| "Satellite" | Y | Y | ||
| "Stuck in a Riddle" | Y | Y | ||
| "Got It Like That" | Lazee – Supposed II Happen | Y | Y | |
| "Explosive Love" | Eric Saade – Saade Vol. 2 | Y | ||
| "Feel Alive" | Y | |||
| "Mama" | The Lonely Island – Turtleneck & Chain | Y | ||
| "Reba (Two Worlds Collide)" | Y | Y | ||
| "Finally Free" | Kimberley Locke – Four for the Floor | Y | Y | |
| 2012 | "Get Started" | David Lindgren – Get Started | Y | |
| "Bastard" | Amanda Fondell – Bastard | Y | Y | |
| 2013 | "Can't Hold Back" | Anton Ewald – A | Y | Y |
| "We Are a Crowd" | The Lonely Island – The Wack Album | Y | Y | |
| "Me & My Girls" | Fifth Harmony – Better Together | Y | ||
| "I Wish" | Cher Lloyd – Sorry I'm Late | Y | Y | |
| 2014 | "One Last Time" | Ariana Grande – My Everything | Y | |
| "Problem" | Y | Y | ||
| "First Love" | Jennifer Lopez – AKA | Y | Y | |
| "Bang Bang" | Jessie J – Sweet Talker Ariana Grande – My Everything | Y | ||
| "Dreamers" | Mohombi – Universe | Y | Y | |
| "Grow Old With You" | Y | Y | ||
| "Just Like That" | Y | Y | ||
| "Save Me" | Y | Y | ||
| "Comeback" | Ella Eyre – Feline | Y | Y | |
| "Santa Tell Me" | Ariana Grande – Christmas Kisses | Y | Y | |
| 2015 | "Love Me like You Do" | Ellie Goulding – Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack | Y | |
| "Things I Didn't Say" | Adam Lambert – The Original High | Y | Y | |
| "City Dove" | Tori Kelly – Unbreakable Smile | Y | Y | |
| "Back It Up" | Prince Royce – Double Vision | Y | Y | |
| "Back It Up" | Y | Y | ||
| "Bad Blood" | Taylor Swift – 1989 | Y | ||
| "Good Thing" | Sage the Gemini – Bachelor Party | Y | Y | |
| "Around the World" | Natalie La Rose – Around the World | Y | Y | |
| "One in a Million" | Hilary Duff – Breathe In. Breathe Out. | Y | Y | |
| "Confident" | Demi Lovato – Confident | Y | Y | |
| "Mr. Hughes" | Y | |||
| "On My Mind" | Ellie Goulding – Delirium | Y | Y | |
| "Codes" | Y | Y | ||
| "Pay My Rent" | DNCE – Swaay | Y | Y | |
| "Toothbrush" | Y | Y | ||
| "Focus" | Ariana Grande – Dangerous Woman | Y | Y | |
| 2016 | "Bad Decisions" | Y | Y | |
| "Everyday" | Y | Y | ||
| "Greedy" | Y | Y | ||
| "Into You" | Y | Y | ||
| "Side to Side" | Y | Y | ||
| "Sometimes" | Y | Y | ||
| "Still Falling for You" | Ellie Goulding – Bridget Jones's Baby soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "Don't Talk About It" | Tove Lo – Lady Wood | Y | Y | |
| "Fire Fade" | Y | Y | ||
| "They Don't Know" | Ariana Grande – Trolls soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "What U Workin' With?" | Gwen Stefani & Justin Timberlake – Trolls soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "DNCE" | DNCE – DNCE | Y | Y | |
| "Pay My Rent" | Y | Y | ||
| "Toothbrush" | Y | Y | ||
| "Zoom" | Y | Y | ||
| 2017 | "Lions" | Skip Marley – Lions | Y | Y |
| "Calm Down" | Skip Marley – Calm Down | Y | Y | |
| "Act My Age" | Katy Perry – Witness | Y | ||
| "Ain't About What You Got" | Star cast – Star (season 1) soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "Would You Mind" | PRETTYMUCH – Would You Mind | Y | Y | |
| "End Game" | Taylor Swift – Reputation | Y (Additional vocal producer) | ||
| "Refugee" | Skip Marley – Refugee | Y | Y | |
| "Teacher" | PRETTYMUCH – Teacher | Y | Y | |
| "Open Arms" | PRETTYMUCH – Open Arms | Y | Y | |
| 2018 | "Raindrops (An Angel Cried)" | Ariana Grande – Sweetener | Y | |
| "God Is a Woman" | Y | Y | ||
| "Everytime" | Y | Y | ||
| "Breathin" | Y | Y | ||
| "No Tears Left to Cry" | Y | Y | ||
| "Close To Me" | Ellie Goulding & Diplo – TBA | Y | Y | |
| "Last Goodbye" | Clean Bandit – What Is Love? | Y | Y | |
| 2019 | "Bloodline" | Ariana Grande – Thank U, Next | Y | Y |
| "Bad Idea" | Y | Y | ||
| "Ghostin" | Y | Y | ||
| "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" | Y | Y | ||
| "Tu Vecina" | Maluma – 11:11 | Y | Y | |
| "Miracle" | Labrinth – Imagination & the Misfit Kid | Y | Y | |
| "Spirit" | Beyoncé – The Lion King soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "How Do You Sleep?" | Sam Smith – TBA | Y | Y | |
| "Motivation" | Normani – TBA | Y | Y | |
| "Don't Call Me Angel" | Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey –Charlie's Angels soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "How It's Done" | Kash Doll, Kim Petras, Alma, Stefflon Don – Charlie's Angels soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "Bad to You" | Ariana Grande, Normani, Nicki Minaj – Charlie's Angels soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "Nobody" | Ariana Grande, Chaka Khan – Charlie's Angels soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| "How I Look on You" | Ariana Grande – Charlie's Angels soundtrack | Y | Y | |
| 2020 | "I'm Ready" | Sam Smith – TBA | Y | Y |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Grammy Award | Best Comedy Album | Turtleneck & Chain | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Radio Disney Music Awards | Best Song to Rock Out to With Your BFF | "Me & My Girls" | Won | |
| Catchiest New Song | "I Wish" | Nominated | |||
| Denniz Pop Awards | Rookie Songwriter/Producer | Himself | Nominated | ||
| Swedish Music Publishers Prize | Year's Breakthrough | Nominated | |||
| Teen Choice Awards | Song: Female Artist | "Problem" | Won | ||
| MTV Video Music Award | Best Female Video | Nominated | |||
| Best Pop Video | Won | ||||
| Best Collaboration | Nominated | ||||
| Best Lyric Video | Nominated | ||||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Song | Won | |||
| 2015 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Song | "Bang Bang" | Nominated | |
| Favorite Album | My Everything | Nominated | |||
| Grammy Award | Best Pop Duo/Group Performance | "Bang Bang" | Nominated | ||
| Best Pop Vocal Album | My Everything | Nominated | |||
| Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Song of the Year | "Bang Bang" | Won | ||
| "Problem" | Nominated | ||||
| iHeartRadio Music Awards | Best Collaboration | "Bang Bang" | Won | ||
| "Problem" | Nominated | ||||
| Radio Disney Music Awards | Song of the Year | "Problem" | Won | ||
| ASCAP Pop Music Awards | Writer Among the Most Performed Songs | Himself | Won | ||
| Billboard Music Award | Top Soundtrack | Fifty Shades of Grey | Nominated | ||
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Best Song | "Bad Blood" | Won | ||
| "Love Me like You Do" | Nominated | ||||
| Latin Grammy Award | Best Urban Song | "Back It Up (Spanish Version)" | Nominated | ||
| American Music Award | Top Soundtrack | Fifty Shades of Grey | Nominated | ||
| Collaboration of the Year | "Bad Blood" | Nominated | |||
| 2016 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
| "Love Me like You Do" | Nominated | ||||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Original Song | Nominated | |||
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Song | Nominated | |||
| Grammy Award | Best Pop Solo Performance | Nominated | |||
| Best Song Written for Visual Media | Nominated | ||||
| Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media | Fifty Shades of Grey | Nominated |