Alex Vargas

Alexander Vargas Blay (born 17 February 1988) is a Danish singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was born in Denmark to a Danish-English mother and a Uruguayan father.^[1][2]

Alex Vargas
Vargas at Rock im Park 2017
Background information
Birth name	Alexander Vargas Blay
Born	(1988-02-17) 17 February 1988 (age 37) Hørsholm, Denmark
Genres	Rock soul alternative
Occupations	Singer musician songwriter
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Copenhagen Locomotion
Website	alexvargas.com

Career

Vargas at Rock am Ring 2017

Vargas relocated to London at age 17 to pursue his musical career where he was signed to Geffen Records and formed the band Vagabond. The band toured the UK selling out two headline tours and also performed at the Glastonbury, T in the Park and V music festivals.

On 16 February 2010, Vargas disbanded Vagabond in order to pursue a solo career.^[3]

On 12 and 13 October 2013, Vargas performed as a vocalist with trance band Above & Beyond at their acoustic show at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. He co-wrote and featured on 5 songs from their fourth studio album We Are All We Need, which debuted at No. 1 on the US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) chart, No. 12 on the UK album chart and No. 34 on the US Billboard 200 chart.^{[citation needed]}

In 2014, Vargas signed with Copenhagen Records and started working on material for his forthcoming EP and album with collaborator Tommy Sheen who also performs live with Vargas. The first release on Copenhagen Records was the single "Till Forever Runs Out" followed by "Solid Ground" on 30 March 2015. "Solid Ground" became a viral hit and is included on the EP Giving Up the Ghost released 22 January 2016. The title track however premiered on US music blog Pigeons & Planes on 16 September 2015.^[4] The EP peaked at No. 1 on the Danish and Dutch iTunes Album Charts while the feature single, "Shackled Up" made it to No. 1 on the Danish iTunes Singles Chart and No. 4 on the Dutch iTunes Singles Chart.^{[citation needed]}

UK press and blogs have described Alex as "engrossing, poetic and openly emotional, Vargas' soulful approach is winning fans – prepare to become one of them". –Clash Music^[5]

Vargas is a BMI writer and is published by Atlas Music Publishing out of New York.

On 16 February 2017, Vargas announced that his second full-length album, Cohere, would be released on 31 March 2017.^{[6][non-primary source needed]}

He co-wrote Bulgaria's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The song called "Beautiful Mess" was performed by Russian-born Kristian Kostov and reached 2nd place, Bulgaria's best ever result.^[7]

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Certifications
		DEN [8]
Rookie	Released: 2003 Label: VIA Music[9] Formats: CD	—
Cohere	Released: 31 March 2017 Label: Alex Vargas, Copenhagen[10][11] Formats: LP, CD, digital download	11	IFPI DEN: Gold[12]
Ego (Super/Trip/Maniac)	Released: 18 October 2019 Label: Alex Vargas, Copenhagen[13][14] Formats: LP, CD, digital download	14
Big Big Machine	Released: 3 March 2023 Label: Stellar Records, Embassy of Music Formats: LP, digital download	3 [15]
"—" denotes album that did not chart or was not released

EPs

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Certifications	Sales
		DEN [8]
Howl	Released: 26 September 2013[16] Label: Alex Vargas, Tiger Music[16][17] Formats: CD, digital download	—		World: 10,000[18]
Giving Up the Ghost	Released: 10 February 2015 Label: Alex Vargas, Copenhagen Records[19][20] Formats: Digital download, LP	14	IFPI-DEN: Gold[21]
superEGO	Released: 3 May 2019 Label: Copenhagen Records[22] Formats: Digital download	—
EGOtrip	Released: 24 May 2019 Label: Copenhagen Records[23] Formats: Digital download	—
Alex Vargas Synger Toppen Af Poppen	Released: 25 September 2021 Label: Sony Music Entertainment Denmark, Universal Music Denmark[24] Formats: Digital download	—
"—" denotes album that did not chart or was not released

Singles

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Certifications	Album
		DEN [8]	NLD [25]
"More"	2012	—	88		Non-album singles
"Till Forever Runs Out"	2014	—	—
"Solid Ground"	2015	—	—	IFPI-DEN: Gold[26]	Giving Up the Ghost
"Shackled Up"	2016	26	95	IFPI-DEN: Platinum[27]
"Higher Love"[28]		—	—	IFPI-DEN: Gold[29]	Cohere
"Higher Love (Decco Remix)"[30]		—	—
"Inclosure"[31]	2017	—	—
"Slowly"[32]	2018	—	—		Non-album single
"Silent Treatment"[33]		—	—		Ego
"Now That I Think About It"[34]		—	—
"The Killing Kind"[citation needed]	2019	—	—
"Police Bells & Church Sirens"	2021	31	—		Toffen af Poppen 2021 Synger Simon Kvamm
"Yougazer"[35]	2022	—	—		BIG BIG MACHINE
"Mama, I've Been Dying"[36]		—	—
"Pages"[37]		—	—

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
2016	Danish Music Awards	Danish Artist of the Year	Alex Vargas	Won	[38][39]
		New Danish Name of the Year		Nominated	[38]
		Danish Songwriter of the Year		Nominated	[38]
		New Danish Name of the Year	Giving Up The Ghost	Nominated	[38]
		Danish Release of the Year		Nominated	[38]
	P3 Guld	The P3 Award	Alex Vargas	Nominated	[40]
		The P3 Listeners' Top Track	"Shackled Up"	Nominated	[41]
	GAFFA-Prisen	Danish Album of the Year	Giving Up The Ghost	Nominated	[42]
		Danish Pop Album of the Year		Nominated	[42]
		Danish Male Artist of the Year	Alex Vargas	Nominated	[42]
		New Danish Name of the Year		Nominated	[42]
		Danish Live Name of the Year		Nominated	[42]
2017	Zulu Awards	New Name of the Year	Alex Vargas	Nominated