Kevin Walker (Swedish footballer)
Kevin Walker (born 3 August 1989) is a Swedish singer and former footballer. He is a centre midfielder. Walker was the winner of the 9th series of the Swedish version of Idol in 2013.[1]
Kevin Walker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Walker at Gröna Lund during Sommarkrysset in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 3 August 1989 Örebro, Sweden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Genres | Pop | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Singer, musician | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 2013–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Labels | Universal Music Sweden (2013–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Football career
edit
Club
editWalker was born in Örebro, Sweden, and started his football career in Varbergs BoIS. Son of the former Örebro SK manager Patrick Walker, Kevin made his senior debut for Superettan team Örebro SK in the 2006 season.[2] Örebro SK was promoted to Allsvenskan and Walker made his Allsvenskan debut in the following season.[2]
From 2007 to 2011, Walker was in the AIK organisation, having loan spells to Väsby United, Assyriska Föreningen and GIF Sundsvall. He moved to GIF Sundsvall at the end of the 2011 season.[3]
Walker played for Superettan side GIF Sundsvall which he vice-captained during the autumn 2013. After the 2014 season, Walker signed a contract with Djurgårdens IF and was presented on 5 November 2014. In March 2016 Walker was appointed captain for Djurgårdens IF.[4] On 10 May 2018 he played as Djurgarden beat Malmö FF 3–0 in the Swedish Cup Final.[5]
On 30 December 2020, Örebro SK announced that they had signed Walker to a three-year deal.
International
editWalker made eight Sweden men's national under-17 football team appearances in 2006 and scored three goals. He made two Sweden men's national under-19 football team appearances in 2008.
Walker and his brother Robert are also eligible to represent the Republic of Ireland.[6]
Honours
editClub
editAIK
- Allsvenskan: 2009
- Svenska Cupen: 2009
- Supercupen: 2010
Djurgårdens IF
Musical career
editWalker has been fascinated with music from a very young age; ever since he heard his Irish grandfather sing.[7]
In Idol
editIn 2013, he auditioned to the Swedish Idol 2013 with the song "Soldier".[8] The series in its ninth season was broadcast on TV4. His whole Idol adventure began after a video of him jamming with a teammate at a football club function caught the attention of the show's producers.[9] A few of Walker's football league games for GIF Sundsvall were moved to avoid a clash with his television commitments during Idol.[9][10]
Walker reached the final alongside Elin Bergman, with both of them singing the winning song "Belong". Walker won by popular vote. His winning prize included a recording contract with Universal Music Sweden.[11] In the final show, he and Bergman joined Robbie Williams in singing Williams' song, "Shine My Shoes".[11]
- Performances
- Audition: – "Soldier" (Gavin DeGraw)[8]
- Bootcamp heats: – "Use Somebody" (Kings of Leon)
- Week 1 (Theme "Here I am") – "Pride" (U2)
- Week 2 (Theme: "My Idol") – "Say" (John Mayer)[12]
- Week 3 (Theme "Swedish music exports") – "Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
- Week 4 (Theme: "Gone too soon") – "Behind Blue Eyes" (The Who)
- Week 5 (Theme: "Successful Idol singers") – "Hope and Glory" – (Måns Zelmerlöw)
- Week 6 (Theme: "Big Band Friday") – "It's My Life" (Jon Bon Jovi)
- Week 7 (Theme: "Hits in Swedish") – "Till dom ensamma" (Mauro Scocco) and "Välkommen in" (Veronica Maggio)
- Week 8 (Theme: "Unplugged") – "Don't Look Back in Anger" (Oasis) and "Hall of Fame" (The Script)
- Week 9 – Final 4
- round 1 – (Theme: "Self written") – "Dreaming" (Peter Boström, Thomas G:son and Kevin Walker)
- round 2 – (Theme: "Picked by jury") – "Free Fallin'" (Tom Petty)
- Week 10 – Semi-finals – Final 3
- round 1 – (Theme: "Audition song") – "Soldier" (Gavin DeGraw)
- round 2 – (Theme: "Chart topping") – "Home" (Daughtry)
- Week 11 – Final (Top 2)
- round 1 – (Theme: "Own choice") – "Where the Streets Have No Name" (U2)[11]
- round 2 – (Theme: "Viewers' choice") – "Say" (John Mayer)
- round 3 – (Theme: "Winner's song") – "Belong" (Kevin Walker)[13]
After Idol
editAfter winning the title, he was signed to Universal Music as part of the award, and released his debut single, the winning song "Belong"[13] that subsequently charted on Sverigetopplistan, the official Swedish Singles Chart.[14] Walker's debut studio album, also titled Belong, peaked at number 2 on the Swedish Album chart.[15]
In late December 2013, Walker was interviewed in the talk show The Late Late Show on RTÉ while visiting Ireland.[16][17] He performed "Where the Streets Have No Name" during the show.
Discography
edit
Album
edit| Year | Album | Peak positions | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [18] | |||
| 2013 | Belong | 2 |
Singles
edit| Year | Single | Peak positions | Certification | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [18] | ||||
| 2013 | "Belong" | 8 | Belong | |
| 2020 | "Humble By Life"[19] | — | — | Non-album single |
References
edit- ^ "Kevin Walker: Sweden's Pop Idol winner now playing in the top flight". BBC Sport. 2 December 2014.
- ^ a b "Kevin Walker — svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 19 February 2014.
- ^ Mellerborg, Stefan. "Kevin Walker till GIF Sundsvall" Archived 12 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine. AIKFotboll.se, 28 November 2011. Retrieved on 7 May 2013.
- ^ Bohman, Per. "Klart: Han blir ny kapten i Djurgården". sportbladet.se, 25 March 2016. Retrieved on 15 April 2016.
- ^ "DIF.se | Djurgården cupmästare". Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
- ^ Fitzmaurice, Aidan. "If Ireland can control Zlatan you have a chance". Evening Herald, 21 March 2013. Retrieved on 7 May 2013.
- ^ "Kevin Walker – Soldier – Idol Sverige 2013 (TV4)" (in Swedish). YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
- ^ a b "TV: Se när Kevin Walker gick vidare – en av 20 till livesända kvalet" (in Swedish). fotbollskanalen.se. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ a b Patrick Reilly (5 December 2013). "The extraordinary story of Swedish football's Pop Idol – Kevin Walker". Goal.com. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ "Pop 'idol' footballer forces fixture shift in Sweden". BBC Sport. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- ^ a b c Ben Burrows (7 December 2013). "Footballer's Got Talent as midfielder Kevin Walker WINS Sweden Pop Idol". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ ST.nu: Kevin sjunger idolens låt – I kväll sjunger han en låt av sin idol John Mayer. Archived 31 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine (in Swedish)
- ^ a b Olof Adlercreutz (6 December 2013). "Kevin Walkers vinnarlåt läckte – För de allra flesta var det under Idol-finalen man fick höra "Belong" med Kevin Walker för första gången" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ SwedishCharts.com: Kevion Walker – "Belong" song page
- ^ SwedishCharts.com: Kevion Walker – Belong album page
- ^ Frida Söderlund (17 December 2013). "Kevin Walker uppträder på Irland" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ RTÉ Ten: Brendan O'Carroll for Late Late Show (in Swedish)
- ^ a b "Kevin Walker discography". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
- ^ "Humble By Life by Kevin Walker". Spotify. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
External links
edit- Kevin Walker at the Swedish Football Association (in Swedish) (archive)
- Kevin Walker club team profile at SvFF (in Swedish) (archived)
- Kevin Walker national team profile at SvFF (in Swedish) (archived)