
It is written in the key of E♭ minor with a chord progression of E♭m–C♭-G♭–D♭. The song is set in common time and has a tempo of 90 beats per minute. While the structure and melody are almost identical to "Fade", "Faded" is noticeably different for its piano intro and outro with uncredited vocals by Iselin Solheim and mainstream production. The melody, I don't know where it came from, but I try to let my emotions and feelings have a big influence on the melodies I produce." The style is inspired by the Norwegian producer K-391. In an interview he stated: "The melodies and the way the track progresses are what's so unique and its what inspired me to create 'Fade' which later on became 'Faded'". In the creation of "Faded", Walker was inspired by the music producer Ahrix's sound on his track "Nova" from 2013. The song "Faded" is a revamped version of Walker's past composition "Fade", which was released via the record label NoCopyrightSounds in 2014. The performance was aired live on Norwegian television. Walker debuted a live performance of "Faded" with Solheim and string support on 27 February 2016 at the X Games in Oslo.


"Faded" is also the 45th most streamed song on Spotify as of July 2021, with over 1.5 billion streams. As of July 2021, it is the 20th most viewed video on YouTube and also 13th most viewed music video, with over 3 billion views, making it the first EDM track to hit that milestone.

The song was highly successful, peaking in the top 10 in most of the countries it charted in, and reached the top spot in more than 10 countries. The single was originally set to be released on 25 November 2015, but was postponed to 3 December. " Faded" is a song by British-Norwegian record producer and DJ Alan Walker with vocals provided by Norwegian singer Iselin Solheim.
