Elyar Afshari (Azerbaijani: Elyar Əfşari; born 15 July 1995), known mononymously as Elyar (previously Elyar Fox) is a British-Azerbaijani pop singer. His debut single "Do It All Over Again" was released in January 2014,[3] peaking at number 5 in the UK Singles Chart.[4][5]

Elyar
Elyar at the premiere of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit in January 2014
Elyar at the premiere of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit in January 2014
Background information
Birth nameElyar Afshari
Born (1995-07-15) 15 July 1995 (age 29)
London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Years active2012–present
Labels
Websiteelyar.co

Early life

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Elyar Afshari was born in Ealing, London, to an English mother and an Azerbaijani father.[6] He was brought up in Greenford, London, and was educated at Costons Primary School and Queensmead School.[7][8] He has one older brother named Iden.[9]

Career

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2005–2011: Early beginnings

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"In 2005 I got a guitar and I started to just play, and then I started to write songs," Afshari stated in an interview regarding the beginning of his career.[10] Whilst still at school he fronted the band 'Just Me Again', and performed for the first time at The Garage in Islington in 2009.[11][12] After completing his GCSEs, Afshari and his bandmates took a year off studies to focus on music.[13] They supported You Me at Six on their British tour, including a performance at The O2 Arena.[14]

2012–present: Debut album / Debut EP

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At the age of 16 he decided to go solo, and changed his name to Elyar Fox.[15] He began posting videos of song covers to YouTube under the name eldoode,[16] generating attention from people including Ryan Seacrest.[17] With the addition of his Vevo channel, Fox has gained over 27 million views (as of October 2014).[18][19] In 2012 he signed with Polydor.[20] He spent a year in the studio, but as Polydor were not interested in releasing, he left them and soon after was signed by RCA.[14][21]

On 28 October 2013, Fox supported boy band Union J at a free gig in London's Westfield shopping centre.[22] He went on to support Union J on their tour from December 2013 to January 2014.[23] Fox came second in MTV's Brand New for 2014,[24] having performed at the launch at London's Drury Club.[25]

Capital FM previewed his debut single, "Do It All Over Again", in November 2013, and premiered the single's official video in December.[10][26] Fox was a surprise guest at the Jingle Bell Ball in December 2013 where he performed his debut single in front of 16,000 people.[26][27] On 12 January 2014, the official release date for "Do It All Over Again", Fox was a guest on The Matt Edmondson Show on BBC Radio 1. He performed a live acoustic version of "Do It All Over Again" on BBC's Blue Peter on 16 January 2014, and a recorded duet with presenter Barney Harwood singing One Direction's "Story of My Life."[28] Fox performed "Do It All Over Again" live on CBBC's Sam & Mark's Big Friday Wind-Up on 24 January 2014.[29] The song peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and number 83 on the Irish Singles Chart.[30][31]

Fox's second single, "A Billion Girls", was announced on 14 February 2014.[32] Released on 13 April 2014, it was first played on Capital FM on 20 February 2014.[33] A lyric video was released on Vevo on 7 March 2014, followed on the same channel by the full video on 25 March 2014.[34]

Fox was the opening support act for The Wanted on their Word of Mouth Tour from 1 March to 14 April 2014.[35] He was a supporting act for McBusted at an open-air concert in Hyde Park, London on 6 July 2014.[36]

In March 2017, he returned from his long hiatus, having shortened his name to 'Elyar', and released a new single called "Beautiful Human" on Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube. He explained on Twitter that he had taken a long break to look for the sound that would suit him, but in order to do that he had to be independent, so he had left his management and label and started producing music from scratch in a studio built by him and his brother in their garden.

In April 2017, Elyar released his first independent debut EP called "SVFARI". This EP contains 4 songs along with his previously released song, "Beautiful Human".

Personal life

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Elyar has been in a relationship with fellow singer-songwriter Leadley since February 2017.[37]

Discography

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Extended plays

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  • The 'Good Friends' Acoustic (2014)
  • SVFARI (2017)
  • Sappy (2018)

Singles

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Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[38]
IRE
[39]
SCO
[40]
"Do It All Over Again" 2014 5 83 5 TBA
"A Billion Girls" 11 46

References

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  1. ^ "Elyar Makes His Debut With Shimmery Single "Beautiful Human"". 3 March 2017.
  2. ^ "All or Nothing, produced by Goodthings, Elyar and Nat Powers (Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Run DMC)". 20 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Elyar Fox". Capital FM. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  4. ^ "Elyar Fox Cheers Up London". Capital FM. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  5. ^ "Elyar Fox: "It's Cool To Be Compared To Justin Bieber!"". MTV. 8 January 2014. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  6. ^ "About | Elyar Fox". Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  7. ^ "Greenford pop star to release debut single". Get West London. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Elyar Fox opens up about partying and dating older women". Metro. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  9. ^ "Elyar Elyar Fox: The Story So Far". Capital FM. 11 April 2014. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Elyar Fox Reveals His Story So Far in New Promo Video". Capital FM. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  11. ^ "Single Review: Elyar Fox – Do It All Over Again". Fortitude Magazine. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Elyar Afshari". Marcus Maschwitz. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  13. ^ "Elyar Fox – About". Facebook. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  14. ^ a b "The new 'Justin Bieber' wants to be own man". Gulf Times. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  15. ^ "Interview: Elyar Fox". Gigging Northern Ireland. 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  16. ^ "Elyar Fox's Best YouTube Covers Playlist - Video". Capital FM. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  17. ^ "The 'Bieber-Off' — Ryan Seacrest Plays The Top 'Boyfriend' Covers". Ryan Seacrest. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  18. ^ "Elyar Fox YouTube Channel Stats". VidStatsX. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ "ElyarFoxOfficialVEVO YouTube Channel Stats". VidStatsX. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ "Future Stars: Elyar Fox". Future Pop. 10 September 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  21. ^ "RCA signs Elyar Fox". Complete Music Update. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  22. ^ "Facebook - Elyar Fox". Facebook. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  23. ^ "Elyar Fox is supporting Union J on tour!". PicknMix Reviews. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 26 November 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  24. ^ "The Vamps and Elyar Fox top MTV's Brand New for 2014". BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  25. ^ "Wretch 32 Kicks Off Brand New For 2014 In Style". MTV. 28 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  26. ^ a b "Elyar Fox - 'Do It All Over Again' (Official Video)". Capital FM. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  27. ^ "Elyar Fox: Capital Jingle Bell Ball 2013 Diary - Video". Capital FM. 25 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  28. ^ "Barney duets with Elyar Fox". BBC Blue Peter. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  29. ^ "What did you think of 'Do It All Over Again'?". CBBC. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  30. ^ "Do It All Over Again: Elyar Fox". 2014. Hot 100 UK. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  31. ^ "Latest Irish Music Charts". January, 2014. GFK Chart Track. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  32. ^ "Elyar Fox Announces New Song 'A Billion Girls' As His Second Single". Capital FM. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  33. ^ "Exclusive: Elyar Fox - A Billion Girls". Hunger TV. 20 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  34. ^ "Elyar Fox debuts the video for his new single, A Billion Girls". Heatworld. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  35. ^ "Elyar Fox to open for The Wanted on arena tour". Digital Spy. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  36. ^ "The Vamps, 5ive, Neon Jungle added to McBusted Hyde Park show". Digital Spy. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  37. ^ "2017 was WEIRD af - Why I stopped posting videos". 21 December 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2019 – via YouTube.
  38. ^ "Elyar Fox > UK Charts". officialcharts.com/ Official Charts Company.
  39. ^ Peak positions in Ireland:
  40. ^ Peak positions for the singles in Scotland:
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