Biography

Major Lazer is an American electronic music band comprising of Diplo, Jillionaire and Walshy Fire. Diplo originally founded the group in 2008 with Switch, whom he met after they both worked together with M.I.A. Their music spans numerous genres, mixing reggae with dancehall, reggaeton, house and moombahton. 

The duo released their first album called "Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do" in June 2009 via Downtown Records. Santigold, Vybz Kartel, Ward 21, Busy Signal, Nina Sky, Amanda Blank and Mr. Vegas were a few names contributing guest vocals on the LP which was recorded at Jamaica's Tuff Gong Studios and featured additional productions from Afrojack and Crookers. 

Major Lazer followed uptheir first full-length with a mixtape with La Roux called "Lazerproof", which came out in May 2010. In the following month, they dropped an EP titled "Lazers Never Die" which contained two new songs and three remixes by Thom Yorke and others. 

Switch eventually left the group in late 2011 due to "creativediffeences," according to Diplo, who then replaced him with Jillionaire and Walshy Fire. The year 2012 was a busy one for them. They were working on a new album, which was eventually announced as "Free the Universe", and a fall tour in addition to collaborating with Rita Ora for her debut album "Ora" and with No Doubt for their "Push and Shove". 

In 2013, Major Lazer signed with indie record label Secretly Canadian and announced that their album "Free the Universe" would arrive in April that year. They supported it with a spring tour. 

The group returned with a new album called "Peace Is the Mission" in 2015. The project was preceded by the hit "Lean On", which was a collaborative song with French producer DJ Snake and Danish singer MO. The track, which was initially offered to and rejected by Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, peaked at No. 4 on Billboard Hot 100. It also became Spotify's most streamed song of all time and became the 8th most viewed video on YouTube with more than 1.5 billion views. 

In 2016, Major Lazer previewed their next album, which has been confirmed will be called "Music Is the Weapon", with "Cold Water" featuring Justin Bieber. Diplo previously worked with the Canadian heartthrob as a part of Jack U, his other band with Skrillex. 

"Cold Water" performed even better on charts. Released in late July, the song made its debut on Billboard Hot 100 at No. 2.

[h/t: aceshowbiz]