Saade began singing after seeing Michael Jackson on TV, and his other musical influences are Robbie Williams, Bryan Adams, the Backstreet Boys and Justin Timberlake.

In 2007, Saade was a founding member of What's Up!,[4] a Swedish boy band which included Robin Stjernberg, Ludwig "hejLudde" Keijser and Johan Yngvesson.

Fifteen finalists (including Saade) competed at the Ericsson Globe, and the four winners became the band's founding members.

[7] In February 2010, Saade sang "Manboy", written by Fredrik Kempe and Peter Boström, at the second semi-final of Melodifestivalen 2010[8] (the Swedish qualifier for the Eurovision Song Contest).

[9] "Manboy" was released in March 2010 in Sweden, reaching #1 on the domestic-single and ringtone charts; its music video also premiered that month.

This time he made the final, winning with "Popular" (written by Fredrik Kempe and produced by Peter Boström).

[23] The single was released in Norway on 6 May,[24] in Australia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, the UK and the US on 12 May,[25] in Austria, Germany and Switzerland on 18 May[26] and in Belgium on 20 May.

[37] That month, he was also nominated for a Song of the Year Grammis for "Manboy"[38] and released the first single ("Still Loving It", co-written with Niclas Lundin and Anton Malmberg Hård Af Segerstad) from his second album.

[42] It topped the Swedish chart, selling 50,000 copies and certified platinum by July, and peaked at #16 in Finland.

[43] In June, Saade won two ESC Radio Awards for "Popular": Best Male Artist and Best Song.

1 ("Hearts in the Air", a duet with J-Son) and its music video was released in June in Sweden and Norway[44] and September in France.

The tour included 24 concerts in Sweden and one in France; on 14 July, he performed for the Swedish crown princess Victoria and the royal family.

That month, he was also nominated for two Rockbjörnen Awards: Best Male Artist Live and Best Swedish Song ("Popular").

[49] In November 2011 Saade released the single "Hotter Than Fire", a duet with Dev co-written with Jason Gill and J-Son.

2 was also released in November, reaching #1 in Sweden and #46 in Finland,[51] and the singer was the most-searched Swedish celebrity on Google that year.

[57] During the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, Saade was co-host in the "green room" (where finalists awaited results).

[60][61] The song was co-written by Sam Arash Fahmi, Fredrik Kempe, Hamed "K-one" Pirouzpanah and David Kreuger.

In December 2017, he released an EP called "Så mycket bättre 2017 – Tolkningarna" including 8 covered songs.

On 26 October 2018, SVT announced that Saade will host all six shows of Melodifestivalen 2019 alongside Sarah Dawn Finer, Marika Carlsson and Kodjo Akolor.

Saade's fifth studio album, Det svarta fåret was released in June 2020, which failed to enter any major music charts.

The album yielded one top-forty hit song, "Postcard", featuring Swedish DJ, Anis Don Demina.

In December 2020, it was announced that Saade would participate in Melodifestivalen 2021 with his first original English-language song in four years, "Every Minute".

[67] Saade was part of the opening act of the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, alongside Eleni Foureira and Chanel.

[68] Despite EBU prohibiting the display of political symbols, Saade performed wearing a black-and-white keffiyeh on his arm, which could be construed as showing support for Palestinians as they suffer in the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

[69] An EBU spokeswoman later stated: "All performers are made aware of the rules of the contest, and we regret that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event".