Zara Larsson
Zara Maria Larsson was born in Solna, Sweden, in 1997 and became a national name at age ten when she won the 2008 season of the talent show Talang. After signing with TEN Music Group in 2012 and releasing the EP 'Introducing' in 2013, she broke through when the ballad 'Uncover' topped the Swedish chart, then went international in the mid-2010s with the crossover hits 'Lush Life' and 'Never Forget You.' A self-described soprano and outspoken feminist, she works in a glossy, R&B- and club-influenced strain of dance-pop that pairs big vocal performances with radio-ready hooks.
Larsson has repeatedly named Beyoncé as her single biggest musical influence, describing herself as a 'proper crazy' Beyoncé fan and singling out the album 'B'Day' as the record that challenged her vocally as a child; she also traces her own feminist, activist public stance back to Beyoncé's example.
listen forCue Beyoncé's 'Halo' next to Larsson's 'Uncover' and listen to the chorus — both push a soprano up into the same soaring, gospel-tinged high notes and drawn-out melismatic runs, turning a love song into a full-throated vocal showcase.
Larsson counts Rihanna among her named influences, and critics have consistently described her sound as R&B- and club-influenced dance-pop cut from the same cloth as Rihanna's — leaning on a cool, understated vocal attitude over rhythm-forward, Caribbean-tinged production rather than pure belting.
listen forThrow on Rihanna's 'Rude Boy' before Larsson's 'Ain't My Fault' — both ride a stuttering, dancehall-tilted club beat and a sassy, come-hither vocal that sits back in the pocket, letting the groove and the swagger carry the hook.
Among the Swedish artists Larsson cites as influences, Robyn is the defining modern reference point — the countrywoman who built a blueprint of bruised, self-aware breakup lyrics set against bright, propulsive dance-pop, an approach Larsson leans on when she wants heartbreak to sound euphoric.
listen forPlay Robyn's 'Dancing on My Own' into Larsson's 'Ruin My Life' and notice the same trick: a devastated, clear-eyed lyric about a doomed romance riding an insistent, four-on-the-floor synth pulse built for crying on the dancefloor.