Alessandro Lindblad (born July 7, 1991 in Stockholm, Sweden), commonly known by his stage name Alesso, is a Swedish DJ and electronic dance music producer. He has worked with numerous EDM (and other) artists, including Avicii, OneRepublic, Calvin Harris, Usher, David Guetta, and Sebastian Ingrosso. He has also performed at numerous music festivals, including Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival, and Tomorrowland. In 2012, MTV named Alesso one of the "EDM Rookies to Watch" and Madonna, who invited him to open select dates on her MDNA Tour, called Alesso "the next big thing in dance music". As of 2014, he ranks 15th on DJ Magazine's list of the top 100 DJs. His debut full-length album "Forever" is set to be released by May 22, 2015 by Def Jam Recordings. Lindblad was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and is of half-Italian descent. He started playing piano at age 7, but became interested in EDM when he was 16. Alesso gained recognition from established industry artists like Avicii, David Guetta, Erick Morillo, Groove Armada, and others with the release of his Alesso EP in 2010. In early 2011, Sebastian Ingrosso of Swedish House Mafia contacted Alesso and asked if he wanted to work together. Ingrosso introduced him to DJing and helped him with the production of tracks. Since that time, Ingrosso has acted as a mentor for Alesso. Alesso has referred to the elder Swede as a "big brother". Despite having learned to DJ in 2011, Alesso made his debut on DJ Magazine's list of the top 100 DJs at number 70 in that same year. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.