Kygo signs Zak Abel and Chic legend Nile Rodgers for For Life. The easily recognizable dance song will be on the Alarm CD on Qmusic next week.

Let’s go back to the end of the summer of 2000. Swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband broke the world record in the 100 meter freestyle to 47.84 at the Olympics in Sydney, Denmark rejected the euro as currency in a referendum, the ban on brothels was abolished in our country and the Queen Mother England, the mother of Queen Elizabeth II of England, is still living her life at the age of 100. On September 9, Lady (Listen to Me Tonight) by French Modjo entered the Dutch Top 40 at number 27 and would reach number 3 in the following weeks. The song by Romain Tranchart and Yann Destagnol, who was behind Modjo, developed into a major dance classic.

Collaboration with table tennis players
Now, in 2024, Kygo has used the song for For Life, a collaboration with 26-year-old Moroccan-British singer Zak Abel and guitarist Nile Rodgers. You know the latter as the driving force behind American disco and funk band Chic, who notably scored big Top 40 hits between 1978 and 1988 with songs like Le Freak, Good Times, and You Are So Beautiful. The legendary guitarist’s distinctive voice dances over Kygo’s famous piano sound. Singer Zak Abel discovered his singing talent at an early age, but in his youth he mainly made a name for himself as a professional table tennis player, with which he also won important titles. He eventually quit because he couldn’t handle the training program any longer. Zak then focused on his music, which led to collaborations with Avicii, Jonas Blue and Don Diablo. He also previously contributed to Kygo’s song Freedom.

Norwegian act with the most Alarm discs
Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, that’s Kygo’s full name, doesn’t hesitate to recycle old hits. For example, on his last Top 40 hit Whatever (with Ava Max) he used Anytime Anywhere by Shakira and he scored a top 20 hit with Tina Turner with What’s Love Got To Do With It and with Whitney Houston he reached seventh place with Higher Love. The latter hit is also his last Alarm disc of 2019. For Life is his fourth in total and he is now the Norwegian artist with the most Alarm discs. In the Top 40 he has been the most successful Norwegian artist for some time, with four times as many points as A-ha.

Every Friday at 16:00, Domien announces Qmusic’s new Alarm disc that is in the Top 40. The Alarm Disk is a new song that Qmusic thinks has a good Top 40 future. That’s why you’ll be hearing this song more often throughout the week, so everyone can get a sense of this potential hit song. You can see all of Alarm’s discs from 1969 on our playlist on Spotify.

(17/05/2024)