Breda, Netherlands · house · dance · EDM

Tiësto

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The elder statesman of big-tent dance music — trance godfather turned arena-house fixture, still detonating 'The Business'-sized hooks three decades in.

Tijs Michiel Verwest, who performs as Tiësto, grew up in Breda, where he began listening to radio DJ shows as a child and started performing at school parties by age fourteen. Between 1985 and 1994 he held residencies at Dutch clubs, sharpening his style at a small Breda venue called the Spock, playing new beat and acid house before moving into trance.

In 1997 he founded Black Hole Recordings with Arny Bink, releasing the Magik and In Search of Sunrise mix series that built his name in the Dutch trance scene of the late 1990s and early 2000s. From 1998 to 2000 he recorded as Gouryella with Ferry Corsten, and his 2000 remix of Delerium's "Silence," featuring Sarah McLachlan, carried him toward wider recognition. His solo debut, In My Memory, followed in 2001.

That album's success made him DJ Magazine's World No. 1 for three straight years, 2002 to 2004, alongside records including "Adagio for Strings." After his second album, Just Be, he performed at the 2004 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Athens, becoming the first DJ to play live at an Olympics. His radio show, Tiësto's Club Life, launched in 2007 alongside the album Elements of Life, which topped Belgium's chart and earned a Grammy nomination.

Later albums, Kaleidoscope and A Town Called Paradise, marked his shift away from trance toward house and mainstream dance-pop, made with a long list of vocalists. He won a Grammy for Best Remixed Recording for his version of John Legend's "All of Me," and scored further hits such as "The Business," built for arenas and outdoor crowds with big drops and recognisable hooks.

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