Axwell, born Axel Hedfors, had already learned how to play the drums at the age of 9. Becoming frustrated with the relatively slow speed at which his musician peers were progressing, he traded in his drums for a computer at the age of 13 so he could create every piece of the music himself.

Typical of the other former members of Swedish House Mafia, Axwell is an incredibly skilled and accomplished Swedish DJ and producer. He began releasing music in 2000 on Loaded Records, but had his first massive hit “Libre” with his collaborative group Mambana. “Libre” was licensed to 12 different territories and put Axwell’s name on the global DJ map as he began to climb to the top. In late 2004, Axwell released the global hit “Feel the Vibe,” which was re-released under Ministry of Sound in 2005 with added vocals from Tara McDonald as “Feel the Vibe (‘Til The Morning Comes).” It peaked at number 16 in the UK Singles Chart in August 2005, boosting Axwell’s status even further in the UK.

Amidst all of this, Axwell was also remixing songs for famous acts like Pharell, Madonna, N*E*R*D, Nelly Furtado and Deep Dish. In 2006, he teamed up with Steve Angello to produce tracks under the alias Supermode and again with Eric Prydz as Axer. 2007 was the first year that saw the coming together of Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso in a group calling itself Swedish House Mafia, but they wouldn’t start formally touring under this name for a few more years. By 2008, Axwell was working with even more artists and producers such as Cindy Lauper and Adele while continuing to produce singles.

In late 2008 the official Swedish House Mafia came together and began to tour worldwide, releasing their first single in 2010. The rest is history. With the beginning of the end of the Swedish House Mafia well underway, there’s no telling what Axwell will do, but we have a good guess.