András Kállay-Saunders | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kállay-Saunders, 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Kállay Saunders |
| Born | András Kállay-Saunders (1985-01-28)January 28, 1985 (age 40) New York City, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | Today Is Vintage |
András Kállay-Saunders (born January 28, 1985), also known asKállay Saunders, is a Hungarian-American singer, songwriter and record producer. Herepresented Hungary in theEurovision Song Contest 2014 inCopenhagen, Denmark with the song "Running".
András Kállay-Saunders was born inNew York City, United States to Hungarian model Katalin Kállay and American soul-singer and producerFernando Saunders. He is a descendant of the nobleKállay family from his maternal side.[1]
Throughout most of his childhood years Kállay's father was touring the world and playing his music among legends suchLuciano Pavarotti,Jeff Beck,Lou Reed and many more but every now and then Fernando would bring along his son to observe.[2] His father would take him to Detroit and show him how it all started; the corners he sang on, places he played. By doing so, Fernando planted the Motown roots deep within Kállay's soul.[3]
In 2010 Kállay decided to visit Hungary to spend time with his grandmother who was ill at the time. During his visit in Hungary, he noticed a TV commercial urging talented singers to audition for the nations talent competitionMegasztár.[4]
Kállay ended up finishing fourth in the contest and shortly after signed to Universal and permanently moved to Hungary. Kállay released two singles under Universal, "Csak Veled" "I Love You" both of which became smash hits in Hungary, peaking respectively No. 7 and No. 2 on the Top 40 Hungarian Billboards.[5]
In August 2012 Kállay collaborated with Swedish rapperRebstar and American producerDJ Pain 1 on Kállays single "Tonight". "Tonight" peaked No. 4 on the Top 40 Hungarian Billboards, making it Kállay's third hit single to reach the top 10 charts.[6][7]
In November 2012 Kállay announced his departure from Universal and signed a worldwide record deal with Swedish record labelToday Is Vintage.[8]
On December 20, 2012 Kállay released his single "My Baby" which also serves as his contribution in the Hungarian "A Dal" Eurovision Song Contest. On February 9 Kállay performed the song in the contest to critical acclaim, garnering 48 out of a maximum of 50 points voted by the jury.[9] Following the performance, My Baby catapulted to #1 on iTunes (Hungary).[10] The music video for My Baby was released on February 8, 2013 and is directed by Los Tiki Pictures.[11] My Baby peaked #1 on the Hungarian iTunes store on March 3, 2013, and charted #1 on the Hungarian Top 40 Radio Charts on April 11, 2013.
Kállay's debut album titledDelivery Boy was released in 2015 on iTunes.[12]
Kállay represented Hungary in theEurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He came in 5th place with his song "Running".
Since the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, Kállay has gone on to found his own band, Kállay-Saunders Band. He has since then released multiple singles with the band, and collaborated withA Dal 2015 participants, creating acoustic versions of their songs and performing as an interval act in the show. His last albumDelivery Boy was one of the 19 records nominated for the IMPALA Album of the Year Award.[13]
He, again, has returned to the2016 edition of A Dal, this time with his band and vocalistAntonia Vai, performingWho We Are. They made it to be the last four finalists, but didn't win.[14] They were again announced to participate inA Dal 2017 with the songSeventeen. They progressed to the final.[15] In the2019 edition, he participated again as a member of The Middletonz with Dutch rapper Farshad Alebatool with the songRoses. They made it to the final.[16]
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| 4am in Budapest (with Young Trabajo)[17] |
|
| Single | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUN | DEN [18] | GER [19] | IRE [20] | UK [21] | |||||||||||||
| "Csak Veled" (Only with You) | 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||||||||
| "I Love You" | 2012 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| "Tonight" (feat.Rebstar) | 5 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "My Baby" | 2013 | 1 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| "Play My Song" (feat.Rebstar) | 16 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Running" | 2014 | 1 | 40 | 93 | 92 | 116 | Delivery Boy(with Kállay-Saunders band) | ||||||||||
| "Juliet" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Victory" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||
| "Faded" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Young" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "Who We Are" | 2016 | — | — | — | — | — | TBA | ||||||||||
| "#Grind" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "17" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
| "I Need You Right Now"[22] | 2025 | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||||||
