2012–2016: Career beginnings and breakthrough In 2012, Walker reached out to Italian music producer DJ Ness, inquiring how he produced his music. In July 2012, Walker began making music on his laptop using
FL Studio with the help of friends he met online, and posted several songs to
YouTube and
SoundCloud. He was inspired by Norwegian music producer
K-391 and Dutch music producer Ahrix, as well as film composers
Hans Zimmer and
Steve Jablonsky. Starting as a
bedroom producer, Walker was better known as
DJ Walkzz before he signed a record deal, releasing his debut single in 2014. In 2014, Walker released his debut single "
Fade" on the British record label
NoCopyrightSounds (NCS), Walker released "Spectre" and "Force" on NCS in 2015. on 3 December 2015. and topped the year-end charts in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, was nominated for British Single of the Year at the
2017 Brit Awards, and won Song of the Year at the annual
Spellemannprisen. The music video on YouTube reached 1 billion views on 26 March 2017, and by June 2024, it had been viewed over 3.6 billion times, making it the
28th most-viewed YouTube video. It also became the first EDM song to achieve 3 billion views. As of March 2025, the song has been streamed over 2.1 billion times on Spotify, and was the most
Shazamed song in the world in March 2016. and
Hardwell. Walker later released an acoustic version of the song, which did not include any EDM elements. After releasing "Faded" in 2015, Walker dropped out of
high school. On 27 February 2016, Walker made his debut performance at the
Winter X Games XIX held in Oslo. By March, Walker had produced about 30 to 40 songs in total. "Faded" marked his first single with
Sony Music Sweden and was his first to attain global success. On 7 April, he teamed up with
Zara Larsson at the
Echo Awards in Germany, where they performed each other's songs "Faded" and "
Never Forget You". The single "
Sing Me to Sleep" was released in June 2016 and reached number one on the Norwegian charts, winning Norwegian Song of the Year at that year's
NRJ Music Awards Norge. Two months later, a remix of this song by American DJ
Marshmello was released. In July, Walker released a remix of
Coldplay's "
Hymn for the Weekend". In October 2016, Walker released a remix of
Sia's song "
Move Your Body", which was included in Sia's album
This Is Acting (Deluxe Edition) (2016). Another single titled "
Alone" was also released on 2 December of the same year, featuring uncredited Swedish singer
Noonie Bao. On 21 and 22 December, Walker held the concert "Alan Walker is Heading Home" in his hometown Bergen at
USF Verftet, where he performed 16 songs and tracks together with singers
Angelina Jordan, Marius Samuelsen,
Alexandra Rotan,
Yosef Wolde-Mariam, and
Tove Styrke. The concert was officially
live-streamed on YouTube.
2017–2018: Different World 2017 At the beginning of 2017, Walker's YouTube channel became the most subscribed channel registered in Norway, after passing about 4.5 million subscribers, and had the most views among Norwegian
YouTubers at around 13.9 billion views as of 12 May 2024. In March, Walker was named one of
Billboard Dance's 15 Artists to Watch in 2017. The following month, Walker released an instrumental version of the song "
Ignite" featuring K-391. On 19 May 2017, Walker released the song "
Tired" featuring Irish singer-songwriter
Gavin James. The song reached number 5 on the Norwegian VG-lista charts. Succeeding "Tired", the song "Sky" with Danish music producer Alex Skrindo was released on 9 June 2017, and was part of the
Insomniac Records Presents: EDC Las Vegas 2017 compilation. On 15 September 2017, Walker released "
The Spectre", a vocal and instrumental remake of his 2015 song "Spectre". The song was presented at last year's "Alan Walker is Heading Home" event. That same month, Walker was ranked 13th on 2017
Billboard 21 Under 21. Walker's single "
All Falls Down", featuring American singer
Noah Cyrus, British DJ and music producer
Digital Farm Animals and Swedish singer Juliander, was released on 27 October. It reached number 1 on the Norwegian and the
Billboard Dance Club Songs charts, and the top 5 in Sweden and Belgium. Then, on 2 December 2017, to celebrate Walker's YouTube channel reaching 10 million subscribers, a video of him performing with Noah Cyrus and Juliander at
YouTube Space NY was released. On 21 October, Walker officially became the biggest climber on
DJ Mag's "Top 100 DJs" list, climbing 38 places from last year's 55th place to 17th. On 31 October 2017,
Riot Games released the Alan Walker remix to their
League of Legends World Championship anthem "
Legends Never Die", which formed a collaboration with American rock band
Against the Current. On 17 November 2017, Walker released a remix of Swedish DJ
Avicii's song "
Lonely Together" featuring British singer
Rita Ora. The remix is part of Avicii's official remix package. On 11 December 2017, Walker was scheduled to perform at the
Nobel Peace Prize Concert with Norwegian DJ
Matoma, but on 20 November, Walker announced that he would be cancelling the performance. In a press release, his record label MER cited "high work pressures and activity levels" as the reason for the cancellation. On December 15, Walker's single "Tired" was ranked 17th on
Billboard's "50 Best Dance/Electronic Songs of 2017" list. In January 2018, Walker appeared on
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and performed his 2017 single "All Falls Down" with
Noah Cyrus. That same month, Walker became a member of Liquid State, an EDM label jointly established by
Sony Music Entertainment and
Tencent Music. In March, Walker released a remix of the 2017 collaboration track "All Night" by American DJ
Steve Aoki and American singer
Lauren Jauregui. In the same month, he was ranked 33rd on
Billboard's "Dance 100 Artists of 2018" list. In April, Walker performed at the
Coachella Music Festival 2018 in Indio, California. On May 11, K-391 and Walker released a vocal version of their instrumental track "
Ignite", which had been released the previous year, as the first collaboration with Liquid State. The vocals are by Norwegian singer
Julie Bergan and South Korean singer
Seungri. The song was performed at VG-lista 2018 with Julie Bergen and Norwegian rapper
Vinni and reached number one on the Norwegian charts. The song reached number 1 on the Norwegian charts and number 10 on the Swedish charts. At the end of August, Walker released a remix of Chinese rapper
Lay's song "
Sheep" from his solo album
Lay 02 Sheep. Prior to the release of the remix, Walker performed a remix of the song with Lay on 3 August 2018, at
Lollapalooza in
Chicago, Illinois. The single "
Diamond Heart" featuring Swedish singer-songwriter
Sophia Somajo was released on 28 September 2018. The song nominated for Best Cinematography at the 2019
Berlin Music Video Awards. The single also became Walker's seventh number one single on the
VG-lista chart. In November, Walker won
Best Norwegian Act at the
MTV Europe Music Awards, his third win since last year. In December, Walker released his debut album
Different World. It included previous songs, such as "Faded" and "Alone", as well as new songs, such as "Lonely", a collaboration with American DJ
Steve Aoki. The album topped the charts in Norway and Finland and was nominated for Top Dance/Electronic Album at the
2020 Billboard Music Awards.
2019–2021: World of Walker, Walker Racing League and collaboration with PUBG Mobile In early 2019, Walker released "Are You Lonely" with American DJ
Steve Aoki featuring Norwegian band
Isák, a remake of Walker's song "Lonely" from
Different World. He released the single "
On My Way", a collaboration with American singer
Sabrina Carpenter and Puerto Rican singer
Farruko, to commemorate the first anniversary of the US-based battle royale game
PUBG Mobile. A cover challenge for the song was also announced and performed during the
Good Morning America summer concert series. This song peaked at number 3 on the Norwegian VG-lista chart. On 25 June 2019, Walker released the song "
Live Fast (PUBGM)", which is a collaboration with American rapper
ASAP Rocky. The song became a track for the
PUBG Mobile eighth season. Walker performed live at the PMCO Spring Split Global Finals in Berlin as a result of the collaboration. On August 30, 2019, Walker released the single "
Play", a collaboration with K-391 and Norwegian music producer
Tungevaag. The song is a remake of Swedish DJ and producer Mangoo's 2000 song "Eurodancer." 3 months later, Walker launched
The Walker Excavations project on mobile and on his website. The project was a game which featured Easter Eggs that teased fans of upcoming music and content. On 7 November 2019, Walker joined Antiguan-German singer/songwriter
Au/Ra on the
Death Stranding: Timefall soundtrack for the action game
Death Stranding and a new song from the soundtrack, "Ghost" was released. He then released "
Alone, Pt. II" with American singer
Ava Max. The song follows Walker's 2016 single "Alone". Numerous remixes of the song have been released, including those by Niviro,
Toby Romeo, RetroVision, and Da Tweekaz, as well as Alex Skrindo's collaboration with Sebastian Wiebe. The song entered the top 10 of the charts in Belgium, Norway, In 2020, Walker performed "
End of Time" with K-391 and Ahrix at
X Games Norway. He also appeared at Tomorrowland Around the World, the virtual replacement for Tomorrowland 2020, which was cancelled due to
COVID-19. In April 2020, Walker released the single "
Heading Home". The song premiered at Walker's debut live show,
X Games Norway, in 2016. On 15 May 2020, Walker released a remix of
Hans Zimmer's "
Time" from the 2010 film
Inception. The song charted in Germany Dance, Hungary, and Switzerland. In May 2021, Walker released a concert film, "The Aviation Movie", on YouTube. The concert film is a hybrid of a concert film and a music video. In tandem with the film, he also released the app "The Aviation Game", which he co-created with indie studio Hello There Games. He also released a remix package titled "Sweet Dreams Remixes" featuring remixes by Brazilian DJ and producer
Alok and Dutch DJ
Brooks, among others, which reached the top 10 in the airplay charts of both Ukraine and Slovakia. The next single, "Don't You Hold Me Down", featuring English singer
Georgia Ku, was released on 27 August and marked Walker's third collaboration with
PUBG Mobile. The following month, the single "
Paradise" with K-391 and Swedish singer-songwriter
Boy in Space, also a collaboration with
PUBG Mobile, reached number 31 on the Norwegian VG-lista chart. It included Walker's logo engraved into the laptop and custom startup sounds and animations created by Walker. The collaboration also centered on Walker's single "
Fake a Smile" featuring American singer
Salem Ilese. On 10 September 2021, Walker released the EP
Walker Racing League. On 13 November, his contract with NoCopyrightSounds expired and his releases on the label ("Fade", "Spectre", and "Force") were removed from its catalogue and from streaming platforms. In December, Walker released his second studio album,
World of Walker, consisting of 15 tracks built around electro-pop and EDM. The album reached number 6 in Norway and number 24 in Finland. and the single "
Headlights" featuring singer Kiddo. "Headlights" was certified gold in Brazil and Poland. In April 2022, Walker signed with the Swedish crowdfunding website Corite, raising over $100,000 from fans for his next musical projects, the first being a compilation EP called
Origins, while the second was a collaboration with his online community of fans known as The Walkers, called "Unity". The following month, Walker released the single "The Drum", featuring uncredited Norwegian singer Kristin Carpenter. His next album,
Walkerverse Pt. I & II, was published in two parts and was promoted by
Walkerverse: The Tour, which began in September 2022. The tour, which visited venues such as
Echostage in Washington, D.C., Radius in Chicago, and the
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, began in the UK in September and ended in December in San Francisco, California, running for 29 shows. In April 2023, he re-signed with NoCopyrightSounds and "
Dreamer" was released. This was Walker's first NoCopyrightSounds release in eight years, and his first since his original contract expired. The song reached number 47 on the US
Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs charts. The next single, "
Hero" with American singer
Sasha Alex Sloan, was released on 4 May and reached number 1 on the Hungarian radio chart and number 18 on US
Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. and ranked 10th on
TikTok's "TikTok's Global Songs of the Summer 2023" list. On 28 September 2023, Walker collaborated with Dutch electronic music group
Dash Berlin and English YouTuber and musician
Vikkstar on the song "
Better Off (Alone, Pt. III)". It is part of Walker's suite of songs including his 2016 single "
Alone" and collaborative single "
Alone, Pt. II". On 10 November 2023, Walker released his fourth studio album,
Walkerworld. This album includes the songs "Spectre 2.0" with
Steve Aoki and "Land of The Heroes" with Sophie Stray. The album peaked at number 18 on the Norwegian
VG-lista album chart. That same month, Walker ranked number 11 on
DJ Mags Top 100 DJs.
2024–present: Walkerworld 2.0 and Walkerworld Tour in Paris, France on 24 March 2025On 4 January 2024, Walker released "
Who I Am" with Norwegian singer
Peder Elias and Indonesian singer
Putri Ariani. In March, Walker collaborated with
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to release a song for the team, "Team Side" ahead of the
2024 Indian Premier League (IPL 17) season. The vocals were provided by Norwegian singer Sofiloud. On May 2, Walker released the song "Unsure" with American singer
Kylie Cantrall. This was followed by a series of tours called "Walkerworld Tour" starting in June 2024. The first tour, "Walkerworld Asia Tour Pt. I", began in June 2024 and took place in 10 cities, including Singapore, Jakarta, Macau, and Kuala Lumpur. "Walkerworld India Tour" began in September and took place in 10 cities, including
Mumbai,
Bangalore, and
Delhi. He also collaborated with the vehicle soccer video game
Rocket League to make songs from the EP available in the game as player anthems during the in-game music festival "Neon Nights", which began on 7 August and ended on 21 August. On September 26, before the tour began, Walker collaborated with Indian composer Pritam on the single "Children of the Sun," released through Indian record label
Warner Music India. The song also features the voice of Indian singer
Vishal Mishra and incorporates a children's choir. Walker also performed "Chal Kudiye" a collaboration between
Diljit Dosanjh and
Alia Bhatt from the film
Jigra featuring Bhatt, during a performance in Bangalore on 4 October. Alia Bhatt then came onstage to greet Walker, which drew mixed reactions online. "Walkerworld Asia Tour Pt. II" began in November, with performances in Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. On 10 January 2025, Walker released his fifth studio album,
Walkerworld 2.0. The album peaked at number 14 on the Norwegian
VG-lista album chart. From January to February 2025, the "Walkerworld North American Tour" took place. The "Walkerworld India Pt. II" tour began in April 2025, performing in Guwahati, Bhuvaneshwar, Hyderabad, and Jaipur. On April 19, during a performance in Bhubaneswar as part of the tour, he debuted his collaboration with Indian singer
King, "Story of a Bird". On 29 May, in an interview with
Billboard, Walker announced the release of his fan app, "World of Walker" on 8 August. The app offers fans an immersive experience, premium content (including Walker's entire song and video catalogue), behind-the-scenes footage, exclusive weekly livestreams, and direct chat. On August 5,
Dagens Næringsliv reported that Walker had signed an exclusive collaboration deal with his manager Gunnar Greve until 2031. On September 20, Walker performed at
Sphere Las Vegas as the headliner for "Unity", a collaboration between American EDM event promoter
Insomniac and Belgian festival
Tomorrowland. On October 4, Walker performed at the
Marina Bay Street Circuit, site of the
2025 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix. == Artistry ==