Nicholas Furlong

Nicholas Furlong (born September 16, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer.

His work crosses several musical genres, ranging from dance, rock, and pop, to rap and hip-hop.

He is also the vocalist and co-writer of the hit single "The Nights" by Avicii.

Furlong contributed to various game soundtracks in 2004–2005, including NBA Ballers, Blitz: The League, and NBA Ballers: Phenom.

At the age of 21, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a songwriter and producer.

Furlong was initially signed by songwriter and producer Ryan Tedder during the years of 2010–2011.

Furlong had his first commercial success in 2010 as a co-writer of the Big Time Rush and Jordin Sparks' duet, "Count on You".

The song was featured on the band's debut album BTR, which debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.

Shortly after, Furlong signed a publishing deal with Ryan Tedder, where he worked with artists like Colbie Caillat, Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis, and The Wanted.

Furlong worked again with Big Time Rush in 2011, when he co-wrote "Time of Our Life" for their second album Elevate.

Since 2012, he has worked with artists such as Kygo, Steve Aoki, 5 Seconds of Summer, Big Time Rush, WALK THE MOON, All Time Low, blink-182, Travis Barker, Papa Roach, The Used, Sleeping With Sirens, and Fever 333.

The band shot a live music video for the song during the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, which premiered after the show.

In 2012, Furlong began transitioning into electronic music, after co-writing a song for Diplo's Express Yourself EP.

"I'd always been a fan of dance music in general, but working on Diplo's project gave me a completely different perspective of the genre as a whole."

Later that year, Furlong began collaborating with Steve Aoki, co-writing the single "Singularity".

They would collaborate again in 2013, when Furlong wrote and featured as a vocalist on the single "Bring You To Life (Transcend)", which peaked at number 44 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

Furlong performed the song alongside Aoki at his 2013 concert in Los Angeles at the Shrine Exposition Hall, during which two Guinness World Records were set for "the longest scream by a crowd" and "most people simultaneously lighting glow sticks".

Furlong worked with 5 Seconds of Summer in 2014 for their debut self-titled album, co-writing "Everything I Didn't Say", "Social Casualty", and "Independence Day".

Despite not being released as a single, "Everything I Didn't Say" debuted at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was also featured on the band's live album LiveSOS.

Later that year, Furlong worked with post-hardcore band Sleeping with Sirens co-writing "Kick Me", the first single off of their fourth studio album, Madness. The single peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart.

The single premiered on the soundtrack of FIFA 15 on September 23, 2014.

It was released on December 1, 2014, on The Days / Nights EP, alongside Avicii's prior single "The Days", and as a single in the UK on January 11, 2015.

"The Nights" peaked at number one on the UK Dance Chart, number six on the UK Singles Chart, and number ten on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

As of March 2022, the single has accumulated more than one billion streams on Spotify, making it the second most popular FIFA soundtrack song of all-time.

Furlong sent the original idea, titled "My Father Told Me", to Arash Pournouri, Avicii's manager.

Pournouri recognised an immediate draw to the track, saying that the song had that same sense of euphoria which characterises so much of Avicii's music.

In an interview with Yahoo! Music, Pournouri said: "It made absolute sense to work on it with Nick...[Avicii and I just needed] to make it more 'us' and that's what [we] did."

"Kick Me" won an award for song of the year at the 2015 Alternative Press Music Awards.

In 2015, Furlong began working with All Time Low on their sixth studio album, Future Hearts, co-writing "Runaways" and "Don't You Go".

The album was the highest-selling album worldwide its first week out, making it the band's highest debut ever.

Later that year, Furlong co-wrote and co-produced "Game On", a song by Waka Flocka Flame featuring Good Charlotte, which served as the theme song of the Adam Sandler film Pixels.

Pixels was released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on July 24, 2015.

Furlong was also a co-writer on the Good Charlotte single, "Makeshift Love", which debuted at number nine on the Billboard Rock Charts.

Variance Magazine claimed that 2015 was a "pivotal year" for the songwriter and producer.

Furlong co-wrote and performed vocals on Avicii's single "The Nights".

In 2019, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance, for his songwriting credit on Made An America by Fever 333.

Furlong was born in Sacramento, California to Jennifer and Michael Furlong and raised in Carson City, Nevada.

He is of English and Irish descent.

At the age of 16 he began writing and recording his own songs and sharing them on music web-sites, before being discovered by a music director at Midway Games and offered an opportunity to write music for video games.