Born Tijs Verwest in 1969, the Holland-born Tiesto is one of the world's most influential EDM performers. Revered by magazines, websites and fans, his aim from the start was 'to share music with others'. His legendary status is due partly to his marathon and energetic live sets, which often go on for six hours and yet leave the crowd begging for more. He is the only person ever to have been crowned DJ Magazine's No.1 DJ three times in a row.Tijs' beginnings in the field were modest. He was resident DJ of The Sprock, a prominent nightclub in his hometown of Breda.
There he was noticed by the GM of a Rotterdam-based recording company, Basic Beat Recordings, after which he released the first of his five CDs as part of BBR's Forbidden Paradise series. All this while, he perfected his producing skills, which would come to rock the world later.Spurred on by prodigious talent and high-speed personal improvization, he partnered his close friend Arny Bink to start the now celebrated Black Hole Recordings. It was this collaboration, in 1997, that gave birth to Tiesto's famed 'Magik' and 'In Search Of Sunrise' series. Tiesto's debut album 'In My Memory' became one of Holland's top-selling dance albums.
In addition to his personal exploits with the company he founded, Black Hole Recordings also produced the world's first trance compilation, featuring now-household names like Ferry Corsten, Johan Gielen and Armin Van Buuren. In 2002, Tiesto was voted by DJ Magazine the World's No.1 DJ, beating former title-holder John Digweed. He was to repeat the feat many times later. By this time, Tiesto was truly international. His US debut came in the form of Summerbreeze, an album which featured the historic track Silence, by Delirium, featuring Sarah McLachlan.
This was an epic track, over 10 minutes long, with throbbing beats and synthesized sounds, woven around Sarah's majestic voice. 'Silence' was the first house track ever to be played on daytime radio in North America. That wasn't all. It was played at dance clubs throughout the world. The remix was phenomenal. It spent four weeks at the UK Top Ten, and reached No.3 on Billboard's dance charts. It was and is an iconic track of the progressive dance era. After the success of Silence, he pioneered a new brand of music, that of weaving hypnotic female voices round pulsating electronic beats.
His exploits in this field include remixes of tracks by Chicane, Leigh Nash and Faithless.In 2003, Tiesto envisioned broadening the scope of his horizon. He had a dream to rock not a club, but a stadium. It was to materialize. Later that year, Tiesto became the first DJ in music history to sell-out a 25,000-capacity stadium. The astonishing achievement led to the 'Tiesto in Concert' world tour. Such was the impact of his feat that he retained the World's No.1 DJ title for the next two years.That wasn't his peak. The crowning glory of Tiesto's career came in 2004, when he became the first DJ in history to play a live set at an opening ceremony of an summer Olympic Games.
He achieved this feat in Athens, while setting the world record for the largest audience ever catered to by a DJ. The number? Three point eight Billion. He also produced an album exclusively for 'The March of the Athletes' for that same Olympics.Complacency does not exist in Tiesto's dictionary. He keeps going from strength to strength. In 2006, he was chosen the official ambassador of the Dance4Life foundation. He then released a song, Dance4Life, with Maxi Jazz to created HIV/AIDS awareness. In 2007, he started his own radio show 'Club Life' in the Netherlands. He also released his fourth studio album, Elements of Life.
The album reached the top of both the Dutch charts and Billboard. He received a Grammy nomination for it in 2008.To share music with others'. Having won almost every accolade a person in his field could possibly dream of, Tiesto just wants to produce more music. But even if he doesn't, it won't matter. He is already and will always be regarded as one of the greatest people to make their career behind a set of turntables.
