Nasri Tony Atweh (Arabic: نصري طوني عطوة, born 10 January 1981),[1] known mononymously as Nasri, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer.[2] He serves as lead vocalist and songwriter for the reggae fusion band Magic!, which he formed in 2012 with fellow Toronto natives Mark Pellizzer, Alex Tanas, and Ben Spivak. The band are best known for their 2013 single "Rude", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100.
At age 19, Atweh presented a demo to a local radio station. He then earned a deal with Universal Canada.[6] Two years later in 2002, he won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest with a song he wrote with Adam Messinger.[7] The following year, he released two solo singles through Universal, "Go" and "Ova N' Dun With"․[8]
The songs received some airplay in Canada, and another song titled "Best Friend" was also heard on indie radio in his hometown in 2003. According to the promotional material attached to his single "Go", he was to release an album titled Invisible Walls sometime in 2003 or 2004, but that never materialized.[8] In 2007, he released a song entitled "Click, Click, Click", that would ultimately be covered by the New Kids on the Block.[6][9]
The Messengers are a Grammy-winning production team. Their work has resulted in two Grammy Award nominations for 2011 Best Pop Vocal Album for Justin Bieber (My World 2.0), 2011 Best Contemporary R&B Album for Chris Brown (Graffiti), and a win for 2012 Best R&B Album for Chris Brown (F.A.M.E.), as well as their collaboration with Justin Bieber / Rascal Flatts in "That Should Be Me" that won a 2011 CMT Music Award for Best Collaborative Video.[12][13][14] He worked on Shakira's El Dorado, which was nominated for Album of the Year in the 2017 Latin Grammy Awards[15] and won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album.[16]
Nasri performing on stage with Zedd at Tokyo Summer Sonic in 2015
Success with Magic!
While playing music with friend Mark Pellizzer (who played guitar for Justin Nozuka) in 2012, Nasri conceived of Magic!. Mark Pellizzer then recruited Alex Tanas on drums and Ben Spivak on bass.[6] In 2013, Magic! released their highly successful debut single, "Rude", which peaked at number six on the Canadian Hot 100, topped the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. The band is signed to Sony Music Entertainment and partnered with Latium Entertainment in addition to RCA Records in the USA.[12][17]
Their debut album, Don't Kill the Magic, was released in 2014 and charted at number 5 in Canada and at number 6 in the U.S.[12] Their follow-up, Primary Colours, was released in 2016 and third album Expectations in 2018.[18]
Personal life
Since 2009, he has been linked romantically with the German singer Sandy Mölling.[19] The two had met while working on the No Angels album Welcome to the Dance. He has a son called Noah with Mölling.[20] Mölling and Atweh were married in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The family resides in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.
