RedOne

Nadir Khayat (, ; born 9 April 1972), better known by his stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan record producer, record executive, singer and songwriter. He has worked in production for high-profile recording artists including Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull, One Direction, Jung Kook, Kat Deluna, Nicki Minaj, and Usher, among others. He also produced many songs for artists that were ranked among the best-selling songs list. His credits include several hit songs on Billboard and international charts; pop, rock, R&B, house, hip hop, and dance music are his frequented musical genres. He established his namesake record label in 2010.

RedOne has won three Grammy Awards out of eight nominations and one Latin Grammy Award nomination. He also won Producer of the Year at the 2011 Grammis Award, a Swedish music award instituted as a regional equivalent to the Grammy Awards. In 2009, he was the number one producer on the Billboard Hot 100, ranking number three as a songwriter Outside of music, he has held the position of Creative Entertainment Executive at FIFA since 2021.

Biography Early life RedOne was born as Nadir Khayat in Tétouan, Morocco. In an interview, he said he was the ninth and youngest child in his family. In 1991, he immigrated to Sweden when he was 19, to pursue a career as a musician. Yacoub, a Palestinian-Swedish songwriter/producer already enjoyed considerable success and was a well-established producer. Inviting RedOne to work with him in the studio, he taught RedOne about "programming and how the software works" and the pair co-wrote a number of songs together. The song, co-written by RedOne, Darin, and RedOne's frequent collaborator Bilal Hajji, won them a Swedish Grammy and "Scandinavian Song of the Year". He went on to co-produce Darin's two albums The Anthem and self-titled album Darin alongside well-known producers like Ghost, Jörgen Elofsson, Arnthor Birgisson and George Samuelson.

RedOne had crossover success with the Canadian singer and Juno Award Carl Henry with hits "I Wish" and "Little Mama". In the ensuing period, he went on to produce a number of Swedish and European pop acts. These included the Dutch pop band Ch!pz (2005), two songs Cariño Mio and Wanna Play by the Mexican teen group RBD for the album Rebels (2006), American Christina Milian in a remix of her track "L.O.V.E." as "L.O.V.E. (RedOne remix)" from her album Best Of, the Dutch singer EliZe in "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and Swedish Idol contestant and popular singer Ola Svensson in "Cops Come Knocking" and "Go Go Sweden", the latter in support of the Sweden national team, all in 2006. In 2005, he also worked with pop singer Britney Spears and songwriter Michelle Bell on a track titled "Money Love and Happiness" for her scrapped studio album "Original Doll", but the track remained unreleased until 2012, when Bell leaked the track in full online.

2006–2009: International breakthrough and move to the United States Lady Gaga and RedOne produced songs such as "Poker Face", "Bad Romance" and "Just Dance" during their partnership.

In 2006, RedOne produced the single "Bamboo" that was named an "Official Melody" for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. "Bamboo" was featured for the branding and promotion of the event during television broadcasts and advertising campaigns, branded cross-promotions, and as a part of the World Cup Official Music Program, gaining him much audio exposure. In addition, The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) made him the main producer and songwriter for the 2006 World Cup Official Music Program. It was then that he decided to move to the United States with the aim of breaking his career there.

In 2007, RedOne decided to move to Jersey City, New Jersey with his wife for better career opportunities, believing this to be his "now or never opportunity".

In 2007, Alan Melina and Laurent Besencon, of New Heights Entertainment, the management company for Lady Gaga and RedOne, were introduced to each other.

2010–present: Continued success and RedOne Records RedOne penned many of the songs sung by Alexey Vorobyov (also known as Alex Sparrow), who represented Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest of 2011 and eventually recruited the singer to his record label.

In 2010, RedOne founded 2101 Records, a record label, as a joint venture with Universal Music Group. 2101 Songs on the other hand is a publishing company affiliated with 2101 Records and administered by Sony ATV Songs (BMI). Main acts signed to the label are Jennifer Lopez, Mohombi, Havana Brown, Porcelain Black

In the beginning of 2014, RedOne decided to change his record label 2101 Records into RedOne Records. Main acts signed to the label are Midnight Red, Porcelain Black, Ahmed Chawki, Sophia Del Carmen, Kika and Wayne Beckford. RedOne Records also promotes SuperMartXé events productions.

In 2015, RedOne announced that he is working on his debut album entitled RedOne Presents. He declared that he would like to collaborate with Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias, Stevie Wonder, and Lionel Richie for the album. Also in 2015, he started working in country music by co-writing and co-producing The Band Perry's song "Live Forever", the first single off their upcoming third studio album.

RedOne signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records in January 2016. His first single with Warner Bros., "Don't You Need Somebody" was released on 20 May 2016 and features Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah, and Shaggy. On his transition from producer to being an artist RedOne has said: "I thought that to be a performer, you had to stick to a single sound, and I loved too many kinds of music to do that. But now I find myself wanting to get back to singing and playing, and friends like Enrique have encouraged me to do so. I want to be an artist in a new way, rather than the traditional one. I'm going to do it the RedOne way, which is creating different sounds with different people, doing the records I want to do". On 15 May 2018, Social Media Sensation Saad Abid helped RedOne Support Morocco's bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup under the #Maymkench2026. In the same year, he produced the song "Festival" where he collaborated with the Mexican YouTuber group Los Polinesios.

In December 2021, he was appointed Creative Entertainment Executive of FIFA, producing the official soundtrack for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He also went on to produce the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup official song entitled "Welcome to Morocco", that took place in Morocco. He wrote and produced the official anthem for the COP28 Summit that took place in Dubai in December 2023.

In June 2014, RedOne was appointed by Florentino Pérez to produce the new anthem for Real Madrid.

Production and songwriting RedOne continued writing and producing with Gaga and a host of other artists. His international production credits include Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, Nicki Minaj, and through his own label 2101 Records Jennifer Lopez, Porcelain Black, Havana Brown, Mohombi, 7Lions.

In addition, he has written for and produced for various artists, in alphabetical order: Akon, Marc Anthony, Justin Bieber, Birdman, Zander Bleck, Mary J. Blige, Brandy, Alexandra Burke, Cassie, Cheb Khaled, Cher, Cross Gene, Taio Cruz, Kat DeLuna, Jason Derulo, Jade Ewen, Mylène Farmer, Livvi Franc, Sirusho, Selena Gomez, Ayumi Hamasaki, Enrique Iglesias, Inna, Jean-Roch, Jung Kook, K'naan, Katia, Kika, Sean Kingston, KMC, Little Boots, Cher Lloyd, Pixie Lott, Austin Mahone, MIKA, Nicki Minaj, Mohombi, Nayer, Orianthi, Lionel Richie, Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio, Nicole Scherzinger, Space Cowboy, Usher, and Lil Wayne.

Bands include: RBD, Backstreet Boys, Cheetah Girls, Dive Bella Dive, Far East Movement, Flipsyde, Jada, JLS, Love Generation, Midnight Red, New Kids on the Block, One Direction, Sugababes, Now United, Talkback, Ying Yang Twins, amongst others.

Philanthropy In 2011, RedOne created 2101 Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to helping disadvantaged youth and to inspire and motivate young people to pursue their passion in life through music, arts and education.

He is also involved with A Place Called Home, a safe haven in South Central Los Angeles where underserved youth are empowered to take ownership of the quality and direction of their lives through programs in education, arts, and well-being and are inspired to make a meaningful difference in their community and the world.

Discography

Singles Year Title Peak positions Album SWE FRA SPN SWI 2016 "Don't You Need Somebody"(featuring Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah and Shaggy) 7 150 18 19 2017 "Boom Boom"(with Daddy Yankee, French Montana and Dinah Jane) — 170 33 90 2018 "One World"(featuring Adelina and Now United ) — — — — 2019 "We Love Africa"(featuring Inna Modja and Aminux) — — — —2025"Bil Amal" (RedOne, Leiyla & Fares Fairooz)ーーーー2026"Stay Up High Morocco" (with Toofan)ーーーー "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other appearances Year Title Peak positionsAlbum AUT BEL(Fl) BEL(Wa) FRA GER ITA NED SPN SWI 2010 "Kick Ass (We Are Young)"(Mika vs. RedOne) 54 8 5 — 54 5 — — 56Kick-Ass: Music from the Motion Picture 2012 "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"(featuring Nabil Khayat) — — — — — — — — —Chimes of Freedom 2014 "A-Ricky-Kee"(SuperMartXé vs. RedOne) — — — — — — — — —Non-album singles "¡Hala Madrid! ...y nada más"(Real Madrid featuring RedOne) — — — 143 — — — 1 — 2016 "La Roja Baila (Himno Oficial de la Selección Española)"(Sergio Ramos, Niña Pastori & RedOne) — — — — — — — 3 — 2017 "Voy a Bailar"(Ali B featuring Boef, Rolf Sanchez & RedOne) — — — — — — 13 — — "Love Is All That Matters"(Aleksey Vorobev & RedOne) — — — — — — — — — 2018 "Festival"(Los Polinesios & RedOne) — — — — — — — — — "Nos Fuimos Lejos (Arabic Version)"(Descemer Bueno, Enrique Iglesias & Hatim Ammor featuring El Micha & RedOne) — — — — — — — — — 2021 "Sahra Sabahi"(Saad Lamjarred & Saber Rebai & RedOne) — — — — — — — — — "Gaw Elbanat"(Mohamed Ramadan x RedOne x Nouamane Belaiachi) — — — — — — — — —2025We Will Rock You (2025 FIFA Club World Cup Theme Song) (Pitbull x RedOne)ーーーーーーーーー2026Follow Me (French Montana x JIHYO x LUDMILLA x Adriana C x RedOne)ーーーーーーーーー "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Honors and awards Moroccan Royal Award After the Grammy Awards, RedOne was awarded the Moroccan Royal Award for "Intellectual Excellence" and was decorated officially by King Mohamed VI of Morocco in an official ceremony held in Tangier in 2011.

Grammy Awards

Latin Grammy Awards

Swedish Music Publishers Association In 2010 the Swedish Music Publishers Association awarded RedOne composer of the year, song of the year (for Bad Romance), and most played song of the year (also for Bad Romance).

Personal life Khayat is married to Laila Aziz, currently a creative designer at Kayat, a brand jointly owned by both.