DJ Mag is a British monthly magazine dedicated to Electronic dance music (EDM) and DJs. Founded January 31, 1991, the magazine is translated monthly to Portuguese, Polish (since June 2010),^[1] Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Chinese, Bulgarian, Spanish, French, German and Italian.^[2]

DJ Blackbook[link]

In January 2008, the magazine created the "DJ Blackbook" which is a database of DJs, producers and promoters. It was released online and in a printed version with over 10000 contacts.

DJ Mag Top 100 Polls[link]

The magazine publishes two annual "top 100" lists, one for DJs and one for nightclubs. As of 2010 both polls are based on a public vote. The DJ poll is seen as important enough in the industry for DJs.^[3] Trackitdown.net formed a collaboration with the 2008 DJ poll, saying "By offering each voter a free track to download from our catalogue of 350,000 titles from over 10,000 labels, we can demonstrate how easy it is to find your favourite electronic music legally."^[4] The awards party for the poll has traditionally been hosted at the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London. For the 2011 poll, the event was hosted outside of the UK for the first time in its history, being staged at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (for boats and ferries), nearby Amsterdam Central train station.^[5] It will form a part of 2011's edition of the Amsterdam dance event.

DJ Mag Top 100 Poll Winners[link]

• 1997 - Carl Cox
• 1998 - Paul Oakenfold
• 1999 - Paul Oakenfold
• 2000 - Sasha
• 2001 - John Digweed
• 2002 - Tiësto
• 2003 - Tiësto
• 2004 - Tiësto
• 2005 - Paul van Dyk
• 2006 - Paul van Dyk
• 2007 - Armin van Buuren
• 2008 - Armin van Buuren
• 2009 - Armin van Buuren
• 2010 - Armin van Buuren
• 2011 - David Guetta

Awards[link]

• IDMA Best Music Publication 2003^[6]
• IDMA Best Music Publication 2004^[7]
• IDMA Best Music Publication 2005^[8]
• IDMA Best Music Publication 2006^[9]
• IDMA Best Music Publication 2007^[10]
• IDMA Best Music Publication 2008^[11]
• IDMA Best Music Publication 2009^[12]
• IDMA Best Music Publication 2010^[13]

References[link]

External links[link]

• DJ Mag Website
• DJ Mag Website Old web site with Top-100 rankings from 1999 to 2008.
• DJ Blackbook

Steve Aoki
Steve Aoki playing a set at the HiFi Nightclub in Calgary, Canada.
Background information
Birth name	Steve Hiroyuki Aoki parent = Richard Aoki
Born	(1977-11-30) November 30, 1977 (age 34) Miami, Florida
Origin	Newport Beach, California, United States
Genres	Electro house, Electronic
Labels	Dim Mak Records, Ministry of Sound Australia, Deckstar
Website	http://steveaoki.com/

Steve Hiroyuki Aoki (born November 30, 1977) is an American electro house musician, record producer and the founder of Dim Mak Records.^[1]

Biography[link]

Steve Hiroyuki Aoki was born in Miami and grew up in Newport Beach, California. He graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1995; he was a star player on the varsity badminton team. He is the third child of Rocky Aoki and Chizuru Kobayashi.^[2] His father was a former Japanese Olympic wrestler who also founded the restaurant chain Benihana. He has two older siblings, sister Kana (who is sometimes called by her middle name "Grace"), and brother Kevin (owner of Doraku Sushi restaurant). He also has three half-siblings, all of whom are younger: half-brother Kyle and half-sisters Echo, and Devon, the supermodel and actress. As a child, Steve lived with his grandfather,^{[citation needed]} his mother, and his two older siblings.

Aoki attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with two B.A.s; one in Women's Studies and the other in Sociology. In college, he produced do-it-yourself records and ran underground concerts out of his Biko room in the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative, which was located in Isla Vista, a section of residential land adjacent to UCSB. As a concert venue, the apartment became known as The Pickle Patch.^[3][4] By his early 20s, Aoki had built his own record label, which he named Dim Mak after his childhood hero, Bruce Lee.^[5] He has also been in numerous bands, including This Machine Kills, which released an album on Ebullition Records, Esperanza, and The Fire Next Time.

Musical career[link]

Aoki founded his own label, Dim Mak Records, in 1996. The label has released music by other electro house artists such as MSTRKRFT, The Bloody Beetroots, Felix Cartal and Mustard Pimp, as well as by Klaxons, Scanners, Whitey, and Mystery Jets. Aoki is also a club promoter and DJ. He has also teamed up with Blake Miller of the LA-based band Moving Units to produce remixes. The duo of Miller and Aoki work under the moniker Weird Science.

Aoki's debut mix album, Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles was released in January 2008.^[6] He also had an Essential Mix that aired on BBC Radio 1 on August 2, 2008.¹⁰

Aoki's latest solo album, "Wonderland" was released January 2012 and features guest vocalists and musicians LMFAO, Kid Cudi, Travis Barker, will.i.am aka Zuper Blahq, Wynter Gordon, Rivers Cuomo, Lil Jon, Chiddy Bang, Lovefoxxx of CSS, Big John Duncan former guitarist of the punk band The Exploited, and others.

Aoki has also been busy in the studio collaborating with other fellow producer friends and thus far has released singles with The Bloody Beetroots, Armand Van Helden of Duck Sauce, Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Tai, Sidney Samson, Tiesto. In his interviews, Twitter feed or from his YouTube channel, he has shown teasers or has discussed doing future collaborations with Diplo, Knife Party, Datsik, Chris Lake, Rune, Iggy Azalea, Angger Dimas, and Dirtyphonics.

He has remixed many artists and bands, including Jackson 5, Drake, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Mike Posner, Girls Generation, All American Rejects, Refused, The Killers, Bassnectar, Lenny Kravitz, Bloc Party, Snoop Dogg, Robin Thicke, S.P.A., Kid Cudi, Fërnando Oviedo,Chester French and Peaches.

He remixed the track "When The Wind Blows" that features on the UK edition of The All-American Rejects' 2008 album When The World Comes Down.

On November 10, 2009 he released a remix for Drake's song "Forever". The song features Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. The track made it to the top of Hype Machine's chart in December 2009.^[7]

Through relentless touring he gained huge support from colleges. Performing an average of 250 shows a year, he has recently started touring with production via bus tours like the spring 2012 Deadmeat Tour he headlined over 55 cities in 60 dates across the United States and Canada.

In March 2010 Aoki released "I'm In The House", a collaboration with Zuper Blahq—alter-ego of The Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am. The song charted at #29 in the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release.

Producer-songwriter Lucas Secon confirmed in a May 2010 interview with HitQuarters that he and Rivers Cuomo had recently worked with Aoki on a single.^[8]

In May 2006, Aoki became a board member for MC5 bassist Michael Davis' Music Is Revolution Foundation,^[9] a non-profit organization that provides music education support within public schools.^[10]

Business ventures[link]

The Dim Mak Collection^[11] clothing line was launched in 2006.^[12] A new fashion range designed by Steve and his sister Devon Aoki will be coming out in the future.

In 2007, Aoki and friend Greger, the owner of WeSC, came up with the idea together to do the "Aoki headphones." They used different shades of green, because that was Aoki's favorite color at the time.^[13] Each season for 3 years, Aoki designed new headphones for WeSC. He is currently working closely with Sol Republic and is a founding partner in the headphone company. Aoki also is endorsed by Supra Footwear, where he has helped develop and design shoes under his name.

Following somewhat in his father's footsteps, Aoki is a co-owner in two restaurants in Los Angeles and one in New York City. Eveleigh on Sunset Boulevard & Kitchen 24 on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. The Little Ruby's on Orchard St in New York City opened in spring 2012.

He co-owns a management company called DECKSTAR.^[14] with DJ AM along with their manager Lawrence Vavra, Matt Colon and Paul Rosenberg. The roster boasts artists such as Blink 182, Holy Ghost!, Infected Mushroom, and Rancid.

He has co-founded and is now developing a website that attracts college students to sell, buy, share books, rent rooms, post events called PILLOWFACE.^[15] It's function is similar to Craiglist but that it targets and is exclusively for college students. When he went on his Dead Meat Tour across the United States and Canada in January through March 2012 he was promoting the website to all the colleges across the country.

In November 2009, Aoki created his own magazine titled "Aoki" through a celebrity magazine publishing company called MYMAG.^[16]

Guest appearances[link]

He was featured in the video games NBA 2K8 and NBA 2K9 as a special celebrity player, even though he admits to being terrible at basketball. He makes cameos in the videos for Cobra Starship's 2007 single "Send My Love to the Dancefloor, I'll See You in Hell (Hey Mister DJ)" and The Sounds' single "Tony The Beat".

On January 2012, Steve Aoki released new tracks on Turntable.fm in conjunction with SOL REPUBLIC Headphones^[17] making him the first established artist to fully orchestrate a listening session using the platform.^[18]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Mix albums[link]

Singles[link]

As featured artist[link]

Promotional singles[link]

Remixes[link]

• Michael Jackson – "Dancin' Machine" (Universal Motown)
• Autoerotique – "Gladiator" (Steve Aoki x DJ AM) (Dim Mak)
• NASA – "Gifted" (feat. Kanye West, Lykke Li, Santigold) (Anti)
• Chris Cornell – "Part of Me" (feat. Timbaland) (Interscope)
• Chester French – "She Loves Everybody" (Star Trak)
• The Killers – "Spaceman" (Steve Aoki & The Bloody Beetroots) (Polydor)
• Fact – "Rise" (Avex)
• All American Rejects – "The Wind Blows" (Interscope)
• Good Charlotte – "Misery" (Epic)
• S.P.A. – "Pets Dance" (Dim Mak)
• Lenny Kravitz – "Dancin' Til Dawn" (Virgin)
• Robin Thicke – "Magic" (Interscope)
• Duran Duran – "Skin Divers" (feat. Timbaland) (Interscope)
• Drake – "Forever" (feat. Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem)^[7]
• Weezer – "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"
• Kid Cudi – "Pursuit of Happiness" (feat. MGMT & Ratatat)
• Klaxons – "Echoes"
• Bassnectar - "Red Step"
• Girls' Generation – "MR. TAXI"
• Mike Posner - "She Looks Like Sex"

Weird Science production[link]

Steve Aoki and Blake Miller's production group

• Haus of Cards – "Original" (Dim Mak)
• Snoop Dogg – "Sensual Seduction" (Geffen)
• Teddybears – "Cobrastyle" (Atlantic)
• Bloc Party – "Helicopter" (Dim Mak)
• The Rakes – "Work Work Work" (Dim Mak)
• Metro Station – "Control" (Columbia)
• Younglove – "Discotech" (Island)
• Peaches – "Boys Wanna Be Her" (XL)
• Under the Influence of Giants – "Mama's Room" (Island)
• The Fashion – "Like Knives & Solo Impala" (Columbia)

Featurings[link]

• The Bloody Beetroots – "Warp 1977" (feat. Steve Aoki & Bobberman) (Dim Mak)
• The Bloody Beetroots – "Warp 1.9" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)
• The Bloody Beetroots – "Warp 7.7" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)
• Junkie XL – "1967 Poem" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Nettwerk)
• Motor – "Kick It" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)
• Tai – "Paradise Poltergeist" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)
• Travis Barker – "Misfits" (feat. Steve Aoki) (Dim Mak)

Collaborations[link]

• Steve Aoki & Armand Van Helden – "Brrrat"
• Steve Aoki – "I'm In The House" (feat. Zuper Blahq)
• Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke & Lil Jon – "Turbulence"
• Steve Aoki & Afrojack – " No Beef"
• Steve Aoki & Sidney Samson – "Wake Up Call"
• Steve Aoki & Atari Teenage Riot – "Codebreaker"
• Steve Aoki & Tiësto – "Tornado"
• Steve Aoki & Travis Barker – "Misfits"
• Nervo, Afrojack & Steve Aoki – "We're All No One"
• Steve Aoki feat. LMFAO and Nervo - "Livin' My Love"
• Steve Aoki, Kid Cudi & Travis Barker - "Cudi The Kid"
• Steve Aoki & Knife Party - Currently Untitled Track

Awards[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

• Best DJ of the Year – Paper Magazine (2007)
• Best Set of the Season – Ibiza Awards (2007)
• Best Party Rocker DJ – BPM Magazine (2007)
• Best Mix Album of the Year – Billboard (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The LA Times article
• Dim Mak Records website
• Steve Aoki on Myspace
• Weird Science on Myspace
• UCSB Student Interview with Steve Aoki
• The Santa Barbara Independent article
• Interview with Steve Aoki, Submerge Magazine, Dec. 2008
• Interview by Maximalminimal, April 2009
• Interview by Clubplanet, May 2010
• Steve Aoki on RCRD LBL

Armin van Buuren
Van Buuren performing on Queensday in Amsterdam, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Armin van Buuren
Also known as	Gaia, AVB
Born	(1976-12-25) 25 December 1976 (age 35) Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands[1]
Origin	Koudekerk aan den Rijn, South Holland, Netherlands
Genres	Trance Progressive Trance Uplifting Trance Neo-trance
Occupations	Remixer, Producer, DJ, Composer, Musician, Pianist, Songwriter
Instruments	Synthesizer, drum machine, equalizer, personal computer
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Armada Music (2003–present), Vandit (Co-Joined), Ministry of Sound Australia
Associated acts	Alibi, Dark Matter, Electrix, Lilmotion, Major League, Monsieur Basculant, Red & White, Technology, Triple A, Wodka Wasters, Nadia Ali,[2] Christian Burns,[2] Ferry Corsten,[2] Adam Young,[2] BT,[2] Sophie Ellis-Bextor,[2] Guy Chambers[2]
Website	arminvanbuuren.com

Armin van Buuren (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑr.mɪn vɑn ˈby.rə(n)]), OON (born 25 December 1976 in Leiden, Netherlands)^[1] is a Dutch trance producer and DJ. Between 2007 and 2010, he was voted number one in DJ Magazine's annual top 100 list of the most popular DJs.^[1] In the 2011 list, he ranked in second place. Since 2001, Van Buuren has hosted a weekly radio show called A State of Trance, which claims to have around 15 million weekly listeners in 26 countries,^[3] which would make it one of the most listened-to radio shows in the world. His 2008 studio album, Imagine, entered the Dutch album chart at #1, a first for a dance music artist in Dutch music history.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden, Netherlands on 25 December 1976,^[1] but grew up in Koudekerk aan den Rijn. Van Buuren started making music when he was 14.^{[citation needed]} He was inspired by French electronic music composer, Jean Michel Jarre, and wished to become a great electronic music composer like Jarre.^{[citation needed]}

He finished high school at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1995, and left for college to study law at Leiden University. While studying law, Van Buuren's interest for making music blossomed, and he began working as a DJ in a local club called Nexus. As his musical career began to take off, he put his law degree on hold, although he did return to finish law school in 2003.

On 18 September 2009, Van Buuren married Erika van Thiel in Wassenaar, Netherlands. They met during a vacation on Crete, and had been together for nine years prior to the marriage.^[5][6]

On 12 January 2011, Van Buuren announced the pregnancy of his wife Erika on Twitter.^[7] He hoped the baby, due that summer, would be his "best production ever."^[7] Their daughter, Fenna, was born on 24 July 2011.^[8]

Career[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

1995–1999: Early career and success[link]

In 1995, Van Buuren had his first major success with a track called "Blue Fear", which was released under the Cyber Records label; he was 19 years old at the time. This track, which was produced in the "Euro Trance" mold, made it onto the UK Chart. Another successful track, "Communication" was released under the same label, and became popular in Ibiza, Spain in the summer of 1999. After being signed to AM PM Records, this track entered the UK Chart at No. 18 in 2000.

Armin van Buuren at Lizard Lounge, Dallas, Texas, 9 August 2008

Van Buuren began his DJ career at club Nexus in Leiden, where he learned to play long DJ sets, which were regularly six to seven hours per set.^[9] During school holidays he played more than four times a week. In 1999, he met Dave Lewis who introduced him as a DJ in England and the United States.^[9] His career accelerated, entering the DJ magazine Top-100 in November 2001 at Number 27.^[9] He has played in more than 25 different countries and can often be found on the main stage at big summer festivals. Van Buuren played a record-breaking twelve and a half hour set for Dancetheater in The Hague (the Netherlands).^[10][11] In the United Kingdom he performs regularly at Passion (resident 2002), Godskitchen, Gatecrasher, Slinky, Ministry of Sound, Peach and Golden.

In the beginning of 1999, Van Buuren started his label Armind together with United Recordings. The first release, Gig – "One," was well received. The second release "Touch Me," under the name Rising Star was signed to Ministry of Sound in the UK, before the record was released.

By the time of his third release, Gimmick – "Free" was signed to R&S Records, Van Buuren had managed to make his label popular very quickly. Under the surname Gaia he released "4 Elements" on Captivating Sounds, a sub-label of Warner Brothers. Teaming up with Tiësto, two new projects were born: Major League – "Wonder Where You Are?" was released on Black Hole Recordings and Alibi – "Eternity" was released on Armind. "Eternity" received club and chart success and was signed to Paul van Dyk's imprint Vandit Records. Another major collaboration followed this. Together with Ferry Corsten, Van Buuren recorded a riff-classic titled "Exhale" for the System F. album. Released as a single, this track reached gold status in less than a month.

[edit] 2000–2004: A State of Trance and 76

In 2000, Van Buuren started his own Armin van Buuren compilation series. He managed to find a balance between progressive house,and vocal trance music styles. His first compilation album, A State of Trance (not to be confused with his weekly A State of Trance radio shows), sold more than 10,000 copies and contains Van Buuren's well known remix of Moogwai, "Viola." His second album, Basic Instinct featured a new track: "Perpetuous Dreamer" – "The Sound of Goodbye." This track entered the Dutch charts in June 2001 at number 26. Later in the year, the track hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The third album, In Motion was released 6 August 2001. This album contained the real trance sound and was very popular in the United States. A fourth album, Transparence, followed in 2002. In 2003, he worked with such artists such as DJ Seth Alan Fannin throughout a global tour on Dance Revolution in Europe, selling out to crowds of 20,000 people in Armin's home country of the Netherlands.

In March 2001, Van Buuren started his own radio show on ID&T Radio (traditionally broadcast in Dutch and later English since ASOT 183). In this weekly two-hour show, entitled A State of Trance, he plays the latest popular trance music tracks. His show and the artists he features are popularized by publishing the artists and track titles on his website. This radio-show/website combination has proven popular internationally. When ID&T Radio changed genres in 2004, Van Buuren left and took A State of Trance with him. The show then moved to Fresh FM, a Dutch radio station. It is now a weekly feature on SLAM!FM, another Dutch radio station, DI.FM, an online radio station, and on XM Satellite Radio, channel 80 in the United States and Canada. A complete list of stations that broadcast A State of Trance can be found at the ASOT section of Armin's website. Also in 2004, Van Buuren remixed the 24 theme song into a trance hit. In June 2005, the 200th episode was celebrated in Amsterdam and subsequently aired on radio. The 250th (eight hour) anniversary episode was celebrated in Club Asta in The Hague, Netherlands, featuring Van Buuren, Jonas Steur, M.I.K.E., John Askew, Rank 1 and Menno de Jong.^{[citation needed]}

In 2002, he had a residency at Glow in Washington D.C.,^[9] and he has played all across North America in San Francisco, Vancouver, Houston, Toronto, Boston, Calgary, Charlotte, Chicago, Montreal, Detroit, Edmonton, Atlanta, Austin, Denver, New York City, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Seattle and at The Necto (nightclub). He has also regularly appeared at Amnesia on the island of Ibiza, Balearic Islands, Spain. In October that year, Van Buuren was voted Number 5 in the DJ Magazine 100 top DJ's. The following year, he jumped up to the No. 3 spot, and held 3rd place for the next three years. His work left him at the No. 2 spot, just below Paul van Dyk in the 2006 polls, and, in 2007, Armin reached #1, heading the 2007 DJ Mag Top 100. He was voted No. 1 again in 2008, 2009 and again in 2010.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2003, Van Buuren released his debut studio album, 76, a 76-minute album divided into 13 tracks.^[12]

Armin Van Buuren performing at Avalon, Boston, Massachusetts 2007

[edit] 2005–present: Shivers, Imagine and Mirage

On 8 August 2005, Van Buuren released his second studio album, Shivers. On the album Van Buuren worked with artists such as Pakistani-American singer Nadia Ali, English singer Justine Suissa and American trance duo Gabriel & Dresden.

On 11 November 2006, he had a live performance called Armin Only in Ahoy Rotterdam for the second time (after 12 November 2005) with a nine hour solo set, where he performed to over 11,000 fans.

In the summer of 2007, Van Buuren recorded and released a live set at Amnesia, Ibiza. Universal Religion Chapter 3, Live from Amnesia at Ibiza was released on 28 September 2007 as a mix compilation on Armada Records and in the US as "Universal Religion 2008" on Ultra Records on 4 December 2007.

On 17 April 2008, Van Buuren released his third studio album, Imagine. It features collaboration with singers such as Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation and Jacqueline Govaert of Krezip. The album debuted at number one on the Dutch Albums Chart. Since the release of Imagine, Van Buuren has been working with Benno de Goeij and DJ-RA of Rank 1 on solo productions and remixes.^{[citation needed]}

19 April 2008 saw the 3rd edition of Armin Only, this time in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, Netherlands. The event was attended by 16,000 fans and (partly) broadcast live on Dutch National TV. During the second half of 2008, Van Buuren took this show abroad, with visits to Australia, Romania, Poland, Belgium, and a special New Years Eve 2008 show at Together As One in Los Angeles, U.S.

On 29 September 2008, Armin won the DJ Award for "Best Trance DJ" at Ibiza along with other nominees, that of Tiësto, Ferry Corsten and Paul van Dyk.

On 12 January 2008, Van Buuren was given the "Buma Cultuur Pop Award," the most prestigious Dutch music award.

In 2009, Foreign Media Games announced the production of In The Mix: Featuring Armin van Buuren, a music game being produced in collaboration with Cloud 9 Music and Van Buuren's Armada Music label. The title is scheduled to be released sometime in 2010 exclusively for the Wii console.^[13]

He has collaborated with his brother, guitarist Eller van Buuren, in such venues as Together As One in Los Angeles, U.S., on New Year's Eve 2009, as well as on Armin's 2008 album Imagine.

On 3 March 2010, Van Buuren was awarded with the prestigious Golden Harp, for his musical work and contribution to Dutch music, by the music collecting society BUMA/STEMRA at the 2010 Buma Harpen Gala in Hilversum, the Netherlands.^[14][15]

On 23 June 2010, it was announced that Van Buuren's fourth studio album, Mirage was due to be released on 10 September.^[16] The first single "Full Focus", was released through iTunes Store on 24 June at midnight.^[17] The song peaked at number sixty in the Netherlands. One of the confirmed tracks from the album is a collaboration with English singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor called Not Giving Up On Love, which was released as a single from Bextor's fourth studio album, Make a Scene.^[18][19] Armin also wrote a song for English singer Seal, but due to the release of his greatest hits album, Hits, the collaboration never came together.^[20]

On 12 September 2010, Van Buuren launched "A State of Sundays", a new weekly 24-hour radio show aired on Sirius XM Radio ^[21]

On 20 October 2010, Van Buuren won the award for Most Popular International DJ presented by The Golden Gnomes.^[22]

On 27 October 2010, Van Buuren was announced, for the 4th year running, as the number 1 DJ, and thus prolonging his title as 'Most Popular DJ in the World'.^[23]

The 2010 edition of Armin Only: Mirage kicked off on 13 November 2010, in Utrecht, Netherlands, with more shows coming in Saint-Petersburg, Kiev, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Beirut, Poznań, Moscow and Bratislava .^[24]

On 27 November 2010, Van Buuren made his third appearance in Shanghai, China.

On 2 February 2012, Van Buuren mentioned a new studio album in the works on episode #546 of his radio show, "A State Of Trance".

A State of Trance 500 (ASOT 500)[link]

To mark the 10 year anniversary and 500th episode of his weekly radio show A State of Trance, Van Buuren performed at five shows across five continents over five consecutive weeks along with various artists.

The first show was held on 19 March 2011 in Johannesburg, South Africa at the MTN Expo Center. In addition to Armin, Blake Jarrell, Protoculture, Lange, Leon Bolier, and Jorn van Deynhoven were performers. Super8 & Tab were to be part of the South African show, however a flight cancellation caused them to be absent for the event. The event was attended by over 20,000 people.

Miami's show was performed at the Ultra Music Festival on 27 March, and part of the show were Marcus Schossow, Alex M.O.R.P.H., Cosmic Gate, Gareth Emery, Ferry Corsten, ATB, and Sander van Doorn.

Argentina held the third celebration of ASOT 500 in club G.E.B.A Buenos Aires, with Heatbeat, Jochen Miller, Dash Berlin, Markus Schulz, John O'Callaghan and W & W. It was the only of the five ASOT 500 celebrations that was held outdoors. Van Buuren recorded a live video with his cell phone and uploaded it to Twitter while playing his live set.

ASOT 500 was celebrated in the Netherlands in Den Bosch. Accompanied by more than 30 DJs from countries all over the world, the event was attended by over 30,000 people. DJs present included Markus Schulz, Gareth Emery, Above & Beyond, Paul Oakenfold and Sean Tyas. The event was radio broadcast live to over 30 countries.^{[25][dated info]}

The final show was held in Sydney, Australia on 16 April at Acer Arena in Olympic Park. It was a sold out event weeks before the night. Artists present included Shogun, tyDi, Menno de Jong, Aly & Fila, and Alex M.O.R.P.H. Van Buuren played for three hours.

A State of Trance 550 (ASOT 550)[link]

In March 2012, Van Buuren performed in six shows across three continents as part of ASOT 550. He began his tour on March 1 in London, continued on to Moscow on March 7, and to Kiev, Ukraine on March 10. Then, he traveled to the United States to host his show at the Beyond Wonderland festival in Southern California. A week later on March 25, he closed out Ultra Music Festival 2012 for the 5th edition. This was followed by the final show in the Brabanthallen of Den Bosch, the Netherlands.

A State of Trance sponsored a tent at the Electric Daisy Carnival at Met Life stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 19, 2012, which by all accounts could be considered an unofficial extension of ASOT 550. ^[26]

Discography[link]

• 76 (2003)
• Shivers (2005)
• Imagine (2008)
• Mirage (2010)

Year Mixes[link]

Van Buuren is well known for his annual "Year Mix" which incorporates clips and custom mashups from the year's most popular trance tracks. Each year-mix consists of about 85 individual releases, edited into a two hour mix which is released on double CD as well as aired on his weekly radio show at the end of each year. According to Van Buuren, each year-mix takes several months to make, including thousands of digital audio edits and hundreds of audio plugins.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Armin van Buuren

• Official website
• Artist Page on ArmadaMusic.com
• Armin van Buuren on Myspace
• Armin van Buuren at Allmusic
• Armin van Buuren discography at Discogs
• Armin van Buuren discography at MusicBrainz
• Armin van Buuren at the Internet Movie Database
• Armin van Buuren's profile on Trancepedia
• Armada Music – the record label of Armin van Buuren
• Armin van Buuren – A State of Trance episodes
• *Flowd - artist channel on *Flowd network.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2011)

Roger Shah (aka Dj Shah, Sunlounger) is a German electronic music composer and producer.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early History: Born in Esslingen in southern Germany to a German mother and a Pakistani father. His brother is Pedro del Mar, also a Trance DJ, hosts a bi-weekly vocal trance show called Mellomania. Roger first began to hit his production stride in his native country in 1999 putting out the tracks ‘Claps’, ‘The Mission’ & ‘Tides of Time’. In 2003 his ‘High’ release was signed by Virgin Records imprint Nebula. This marked his first non-domestic release and over the course of the next 5 years he inked productions to a range of trance labels - ones that came to include Anjunabeats, VANDIT & Black Hole.

The Armin Connection: In 2007 Armin van Buuren named Shah’s ‘Who Will Find Me’ release as his favourite track of 2007. Having heard the demo of its follow-up, Van Buuren saw crossover potential in the track and made contact in early 2008 to ask if Shah would like to collaborate on it. The result was the Chris Jones song ‘Going Wrong’… A national top 5 smash in The Netherlands, the track went on to become one of the biggest selling trance singles of the year. From there Magic Island Records – Shah’s primary label moved from his own stable to that of one of Armin’s industry-leading Armada Music.

Magic Island Records: An imprint for both Roger’s own material and that of likeminded producers, Magic Island releases have quickly become fixtures in the CDJs of the world’s biggest spinners. Notable up and coming names like Ralph Fritsch, DJ Cosmo, Kim Svard and Walsh & McAuley have all had releases on the label.

‘Songbook’: The M.I. deal’s quickest produce of the Magic Island/Armada deal was Roger’s first artist album, ‘Songbook’. Strongly received by both press and fans alike, it was praised for its innovative dual club mix and acoustic version approach. Singles taken from it like ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’ and the aforementioned ‘Going Wrong’ & ‘Who Will Find Me’ (a Top 20 ASOT Tune of the Year in ‘08) proved to be particularly popular.

Live & DJ Performances: In late 2008 Shah took the decision to change his artist name. Dropping the ‘DJ’ prefix, he revised it to Roger Shah – a move that signalled a move away from straightforward DJ sets. His successive live-on-stage more concert themed ones have brought a percevible change to how trance music was presented to an audience. During live performance, Roger Shah frequently uses a wireless keyboard interface such as the M-Audio Oxygen 25 (25 key USB midi controller). Roger Shah has mentioned numerous times that will perform with his laptop instead of CD.

Pseudonyms & Side Projects: In addition to his own-name tracks, Roger has also produced under a matrix of other sun-tipped aliases. Notable among them are his ‘pka’ DJ Shah, High Noon at Salinas, Magic Island & Savannah. Shah is also one half of the Anjunabeats released act Purple Moods, Black Hole project Global Experience and ASOT’s Black Pearl, whose ’06 – ’09 spanning singles ‘Coral Sea’, ‘Java’, ‘Bounty Island’ and ‘Rise’ generated much additional interest in Shah’s solo productions.

Sunlounger: Sunlounger is without doubt Roger’s best known nom de plume. It was under this handle that he released the ‘Another Day On The Terrace' long-player in 2008. It reached No.1 on Dutch iTunes’ ‘all-music-genres’ chart and spawned four singles: ‘In & Out’, ‘Aguas Blancas’, ‘Crawling’ & ‘White Sand’. The project become so celebrated that Roger expanded Sunlounger into a live act - a performance of which was featured on Armada’s ArminOnly DVD. It was this experience that he credited with his latter wholesale move into live Roger Shah performances. In 2009 Roger released the Sunlounger follow-up LP ‘Sunny Tales'. It's progeny singles included ‘Catwalk’, ‘Mediterranean Flower’, ‘Change Your Mind’ and the much-revered ‘Lost’ - voted as Tune of the Year for the 2008 A State of Trance radio show hosted by Armin van Buuren.

‘Magic Island: Music For Balearic People’ – The Compilations: Shah’s compilation series has so far seen three outings (2007, 2008 & 2010). Encapsulating everything Roger stands for musically, their intrinsically White Island trance sound has sound-tracked an uncountable number of clubbers holidays. Roger typically uses the compilations as first-listen holders for future singles & collaborations with Vol.2 including ones with Signum, Judge Jules & Amanda O’Riordan and Tenishia.

‘Magic Island: Music For Balearic People’ – The Radio Show: Broadcasting weekly, Magic Island – Music For Balearic People is a 2 hour radio show carried by the DI-fm station and is currently being syndicated to many other countries, most recently including Mexico and Jordan. Presented by Roger every Friday between 21.00 GMT (22:00 CET), it showcases him playing melodic trance through the first hour with the 2nd focusing on Balearic, chillout and Dream trance.

Remixes: Shah has reworked tracks for legendary vocalists like Sarah McLachlan and Nadia Ali. He’s also remixed tunes for a litany of trance-masters including Tiësto, Armin Van Buuren, Mark Norman, York, Cosmic Gate, Josh Gabriel, Johan Gielen, System F, The Thrillseekers, Solarstone, Three Drives, Matt Darey & Oceanlab. Most recently Roger has rewired Andain’s ‘Beautiful Things ‘10’ and Richard Durand’s ‘Always The Sun’.

Discography[link]

David Guetta
David Guetta at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards
Background information
Birth name	Pierre David Guetta
Born	(1967-11-07) 7 November 1967 (age 44) Paris, France
Genres	House, electro house, hip house
Occupations	DJ, record producer, songwriter
Years active	1984–present
Labels	EMI Music France, Virgin, Positiva, Astralwerks, Jack Back Records
Website	DavidGuetta.com

Pierre David Guetta (7 November 1967), known professionally as David Guetta (French pronunciation: [daˌvid ɡɛˈta]), is a French house music producer and DJ.^[1] Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster (2004) and Pop Life (2007). His 2009 album One Love included the hit singles "When Love Takes Over" (featuring Kelly Rowland), "Gettin' Over You" (featuring Chris Willis, Fergie & LMFAO) and "Sexy Bitch" (featuring Akon), the last becoming a top five hit in the United States and all three reaching #1 in the United Kingdom, as well as another internationally known single called "Memories" featuring Kid Cudi which became a top five hit in many countries. Guetta has sold over three million albums and 15 million singles worldwide.^[2] He is currently one of the most sought-after music producers.^[3] As at 2012 David Guetta is the world's most popular DJ, claiming the #1 poll position of the DJ Mag 100 popularity poll.^[4]

Biography[link]

1984–2000: Early life and career[link]

At age 17, Guetta began DJing at the Broad Club in Paris.^[5] He first played popular songs, and he discovered house music when he heard a Farley master Funk track on French radio in 1987. The next year, he began hosting his own club nights.^[6] In 1990, he released "Nation Rap", a hip-hop collaboration with French rapper Sidney Duteil.^[7]

In the mid 1990s Guetta played in clubs including Le Centrale, the Rex, Le Boy, and Folies Pigalle.^[5][8] Released in 1994^[7] Guetta's second single, a collaboration with American house vocalist Robert Owens titled "Up & Away", was a minor club hit.^[6] In 1994, David Guetta became the manager of Le Palace nightclub and he continued to organise parties there and in other clubs, such as the "Scream" parties in Les Bains Douches.^[9]

[edit] 2001–2006: Just a Little More Love and Guetta Blaster

In 2001, David Guetta along with Joachim Garraud founded Gum Productions, and in the same year Guetta's first hit single, "Just a Little More Love", featuring American singer Chris Willis was released. Willis was vacationing in France when he met Guetta.^[6] Guetta's debut album Just a Little More Love was released in 2002 on Virgin Records and sold over 300,000 copies. The follow-up singles, ("Love Don't Let Me Go", "People Come People Go" and "Give Me Something"), were released in 2002. Guetta released a compilation, Fuck Me I'm Famous, in 2003, named after his party in Ibiza. It included "Just for One Day (Heroes)", a remix of David Bowie's song "Heroes".^[6] Later in his career, Guetta continued recording compilations under that title.

Guetta's second album, Guetta Blaster, was released in 2004. It released four singles: "Money" and "Stay" featuring Chris Willis and "The World Is Mine" and "In Love With Myself" featuring JD Davis. In 2006 the Just a Little More Love single "Love Don't Let Me Go" was re-released as a mash-up with the Tocadisco remix of "Walking Away" by The Egg. The mash-up single entitled "Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)" was charted higher than the original release of the song.

[edit] 2007–2008: Pop Life

Guetta performing, May 2007

In 2007, Guetta's third album Pop Life was released. The album was successful in the UK and Ireland as well as in mainland Europe. According to EMI in 2010, the album has sold a total of 530,000 copies worldwide. The lead single "Love Is Gone" reached Number 1 on the American Dance Chart and charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

He played in many countries around the world to promote the album. He played in Mauritius in January 2008, accompanied by French rapper JoeyStarr. In the same year, he and his wife Cathy also planned a new event which took place in the Stade de France on 5 July 2008. The event was called "UNIGHTED", he performed with Tiësto, Carl Cox, Joachim Garraud and Martin Solveig in front of a crowd of 40,000.^[10]

In 2009, he was placed third in the "Top 100 DJs" poll by DJ Magazine,^[11] and was elected "Best House DJ" by DJ Awards in 2008. Since April 2009, Guetta had his own radio show on the internet radio station RauteMusik on Saturday evening. The show was afterwards moved into Radio 538, being aired every Friday evening after Tiësto's Club Life. Its name is DJ Mix. Guetta performs a one-hour set of house music, presenting mainly new talents inside.

[edit] 2009–2010: One Love and international breakthrough

David Guetta's fourth studio album, One Love, was released in August 2009. Its first single "When Love Takes Over", which featured Kelly Rowland, peaked at #1 on the UK Singles Chart and topped many other countries worldwide. His second single from the album, "Sexy Bitch" featuring Akon, became his second #1 in the UK. "One Love" featuring Estelle, "Memories" featuring Kid Cudi and "Gettin' Over You" featuring Chris Willis, Fergie and LMFAO followed. As of May 2011 the album had sold three million copies worldwide.^[12] Guetta's fourth studio album One Love was nominated as "Best Electronic/Dance Album" at the 52nd Grammy Awards.^[13] His song "When Love Takes Over" featuring American R&B singer Kelly Rowland received two nominations; Best Dance Recording and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical, and won the latter. After conflicts over whether or not an album re-issue should go ahead, One More Love was released on 29 November 2010. First single, titled "Who's That Chick?" featuring Rihanna was released a few weeks prior.^[14]

On 16 June 2009, The Black Eyed Peas released the David Guetta-produced "I Gotta Feeling" as their second single from their fifth studio album, The E.N.D.. It became a worldwide hit topping the charts in seventeen countries. It became the most downloaded song of all-time in the United States with almost 7.5 million downloads and in the United Kingdom selling more than 1 million copies.^[15][16] He was nominated twice for his work with The Black Eyed Peas at the 52nd Grammy Awards; in the category Record of the Year for "I Gotta Feeling" and Album of the Year for their album The E.N.D.. In 2010, David Guetta co-wrote and produced Kelly Rowland's "Commander" from her third album Here I Am. It peaked at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the United States, and reached top ten positions in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Guetta has also co-produced "Forever and a Day", which was Kelly's next UK single from that album.^[17][18] Guetta also produced the singles "Acapella" and "Scream" for American singer-songwriter Kelis's fifth studio album, Flesh Tone, released on 14 May 2010. "Acapella" was released as the lead single on 23 February 2010 and topped the dance charts in the United Kingdom and United States. On 28 June 2010 American rapper Flo Rida released the single "Club Can't Handle Me" featuring David Guetta. The song is included on the soundtrack album to the American 3D dance film Step Up 3D.

Guetta on the One Love Tour, January 2010.

[edit] 2011–present: Nothing But the Beat

Guetta's fifth studio album, Nothing But the Beat was released on August 30, 2011. It was released as a double-disc album; one disc being vocal and the other being electronic.^[19] The French DJ was inspired by rock bands such as Kings of Leon and Coldplay to add rock influences to his dance productions.^[20] "Where Them Girls At" featuring Nicki Minaj and Flo Rida, the first single off the album, was released worldwide on May 2, 2011.^[21][22] "Little Bad Girl" featuring Ludacris and Taio Cruz, was released as the second single on June 28, 2011.^[19][23] The third single "Without You" featuring Usher was released on September 27, 2011. Guetta also released three promotional singles for Nothing But the Beat, "Titanium" featuring Sia, "Lunar" with Afrojack and "Night of Your Life" featuring Jennifer Hudson. The album also features the hit single "Sweat" with Snoop Dogg.

Guetta is also scheduled to perform alongside Nicky Romero and Nervo at London's Alexandra Palace on June 1, 2012.^[24]

Personal life[link]

Guetta and his wife Cathy in January 2012 at the NRJ Music Awards ceremony.

His father was a restaurateur of Moroccan Jewish descent,^[25] and his mother is of Belgian descent.^[26][27][28] He is married to socialite and night club manager Cathy Guetta; they have two children, Tim Elvis Eric (born 2004) and Angie (born 2007).^[29]

Discography[link]

• Just a Little More Love (2002)
• Guetta Blaster (2004)
• Pop Life (2007)
• One Love (2009)
• Nothing but the Beat (2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• David Guetta on Myspace
• David Guetta on Twitter
• David Guetta's channel on YouTube
• David Guetta at the Internet Movie Database
• David Guetta official store
• David Guetta information at Ultra Records
• Review of 'Memories' on the Daily Music Guide
• David Jeffries. "David Guetta biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p572357. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
• David Guetta in PACHA NEWS
• David Guetta at Billboard.com
• Review of 'Gettin Over you' on the Daily Music Guide