Zelmerlöw first entered the public eye in 2005, when he took part in season 2 of the Swedish version of Idol, which was broadcast on TV4. He came in fifth place overall, and was eliminated on 11 November after eight weeks on the show.[5] He had placed in the bottom three once and the bottom two twice.[5][6]
Zelmerlöw took part in the first season of Let's Dance in 2006, partnering with Maria Karlsson. They won the competition, defeating singer Anna Book in the final.[7]
In the same year, he also appeared in the Swedish version of the musical Grease, playing the lead role of Danny Zuko. As a result, Zelmerlöw signed a record deal to release a solo album with M&L Records, a division of Warner Music Sweden.[8]
In November 2006, it was announced that Zelmerlöw would compete in Melodifestivalen 2007, Sweden's national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, to be held in Helsinki, Finland.[9] He competed with the song "Cara Mia" in the third semi-final on 17 February 2007 in Örnsköldsvik, and progressed to the final, which was held on 10 March at Globen in Stockholm.[10] There his performance of "Cara Mia" finished in third place behind winners The Ark and runner-up Andreas Johnson.[11] "Cara Mia" was released as a single and Zelmerlöw's debut album Stand by For... followed shortly after.[12]
The album reached number one in Sweden and was certified platinum by IFPI. Four singles were released from the album, all of which reached the top 50 in Sweden. Stand by For... was also released in Poland in September 2007.[13]
On 18 November 2008, it was announced that Zelmerlöw would again compete in Melodifestivalen, this time with the song "Hope & Glory".[17]The 2009 contest featured many former entrants, including Sarah Dawn Finer, Sofia, BWO and Amy Diamond. He took part in the second semi-final on 14 February 2009, and again progressed to the final on 14 March at Globen.[18] "Hope & Glory" ultimately placed fourth, despite receiving the most votes from the jury.[11]
In 2008, Zelmerlöw went back to the studio to work on his second solo album, MZW, which was released in late March 2009. It was certified gold by the IFPI and reached number one on the Swedish album charts. The album was also released in Poland. In 2009 he played a summer tour of Sweden performing songs from both albums.[19]
2010–2011: hosting Melodifestivalen and Allsång på Skansen
In January 2011, Zelmerlöw was announced as the replacement for Anders Lundin as presenter of Allsång på Skansen, broadcast on SVT.[16] He also presented the show in 2012.[24]
In March 2013, Zelmerlöw revealed plans for his third studio album, Barcelona Sessions, unveiling a new single, "Broken Parts". He also performed a new track on Swedish television called "Run for Your Life".[25] In September 2013, Zelmerlöw unveiled the second single from the new album, called "Beautiful Life", and performed another album track entitled "Parallels". The album was released on 5 February 2014, preceded by "Run for Your Life".[26]
In the summer of 2013, Zelmerlöw presented Allsång på Skansen on SVT and revealed that he was leaving the show in the final programme on 13 August.[27][28] Singer Petra Marklund replaced him.[28]
On 11 May 2015, Zelmerlöw revealed the artwork and track list for his fourth studio album Perfectly Damaged, which was released on 5 June 2015.[35] On 17 May, Zelmerlöw performed the song "Heroes" in Belgrade during the first live show of X Factor Adria.[36][37]
Leading up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, Zelmerlöw was predicted as the winner by the majority of the betting companies.[38][39] Zelmerlöw participated in the second semifinal on 21 May, where he came first with 217 points (receiving the highest score from a record 14 countries) and qualified for the final.[40][41] Zelmerlöw won the Eurovision 2015 final, scoring 365 points.[42][43]
Throughout the summer of 2015, he made several appearances at music festivals in Sweden and Finland before embarking on a 17-date European tour in September. According to his Twitter and Instagram, before the European tour, he would make his way to Shanghai, China for a visit, promoting his latest album "Perfectly Damaged".[44]
In the end of January 2016, Zelmerlöw travelled to Australia and sang at Guy Sebastian's 28 date Concert Tour "You..Me..Us Tour" as a surprise guest artist. Zelmerlöw and his band performed at two dates to the delight of Australian audiences who attended Jupiters Hotel and Casino, Gold Coast and regional Grafton to see the Guy Sebastian show.[45]
Zelmerlöw's seventh studio album, Chameleon, was released in December 2016. The lead single "Hanging on to Nothing", had been released the previous August. The song failed to chart on the Official Swedish Singles chart, but peaked at number 2 on the Heatseekers chart. On November 5, 2016, the French version of "Hanging on to Nothing" was released titled "Rien que nous deux" ("Only the two of us" in English).[citation needed]
In 2018 his song "Happyland", released on the Chameleon album, was chosen by confectionery company Kinder to celebrate its 50th anniversary through commercials broadcast in European countries such as Germany and Italy.
On 1 March 2019 Zelmerlöw and Swedish singer Dotter released the song Walk With Me.
Zelmerlöw announced in May 2019 that he would release the songs Better Now and Grow Up to Be You.[49]
As part of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 interval act, he covered his favourite entry of 2018, "Fuego", by Eleni Foureira, whilst the Greek singer covered "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" and Conchita covered his song "Heroes",[50] before the acts convened for a version of "Hallelujah". Måns released his version of "Fuego" on iTunes, where the mention of the word "pelican" is removed due to the possible reference to the female anatomy.[51]
On 18 October 2019 Zelmerlöw released his eighth studio album, Time. As a third single, the song One has been released on 21 November 2019 for digital download.
Zelmerlöw was part of the jury of Eurovision: Australia Decides 2020[52] and also performed the single Walk With Me, which has been re-released with Australian singer Dami Im on 6 February 2020.[53]
Zelmerlöw and Morgan Sulele released the Single Gamle Dager on 10 April 2020.[54] The song contains Norwegian and Swedish lyrics.
As the fourth single from Zelmerlöw´s album Time the song On My Way has been released on 24 April 2020.[55]
In the winter of 2020, Zelmerlöw and Per Andersson did a Christmas show together called Tomen och Bocken - En slags julshow at Hamburger Börs directed by Edward af Sillén who he had previous worked with on Melodifestivalen and Eurovision, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic only a few days of the show was able to be done before it had to be cancelled.[56][57]
In March 2014, while a guest on Swedish cooking show Pluras kök, Zelmerlöw commented that he considered homosexuality an avvikelse (English: deviation). On the show, he said he did not think there was anything wrong with homosexuality, but that it is not natural biologically, since it does not lead to reproduction. He later apologised repeatedly for his remarks, claiming that they were a miscommunication.[68][69][70][71] After his Melodifestivalen win a year later, the incident came under international media scrutiny, prompting a few members of gay, Swedish and Eurovision media to come to Zelmerlöw's defence.[72][73][74] He later said that he would date a man "if [he] got that feeling".[75][76]
Between 2008 and 2011, he was in a relationship with the Swedish singer and model Marie Serneholt, a former member of the Swedish pop band A-Teens.[77] In 2016, Zelmerlöw began dating British actress Ciara Janson and they later announced their engagement.[78][79] In December 2017, Zelmerlöw announced that they were expecting a child together.[80] A few weeks later, he confirmed that the child would be a boy.[81] The couple live in Surrey, just outside London. On 25 May 2018 he announced via social media that Ciara had given birth to their son, Albert.[82][83] The couple married on 5 September 2019.[84]
On 9 August 2022, Zelmerlöw announced on Instagram that Ciara had given birth to their second son, Ossian Matteus Zelmerlöw.
It is also worth noting that on the 8th of July 2024 Måns Zelmerlöw opened a coffee and wine trailer named Beans and Grapes which is situated in the garden adjacent to the tennis museum in Båstad, Sweden.[85] The coffee and wine trailer is said to feature live music and have room for 50 guests. [86]