Tiësto (Dutch pronunciation:
[tiɛsto]; born
Tijs Michiel Verwest [tɛɪs mixiɫ vərʋɛst] on January 17, 1969)
[2] is a
Dutch DJ and
record producer of
electronic dance music. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as
DJ Tiësto.
[3] On his latest productions, however, he has dropped the "DJ" label and is now known simply as "Tiësto",
[4] an alias which is an Italian twist of his childhood nickname.
[5]
In 1997 he founded the label
Black Hole Recordings with Arny Bink, where he released the famous
Magik and
In Search of Sunrise CD series. In 1999 and 2000 he collaborated with
Ferry Corsten to create
Gouryella. In 2001 he released his first solo album
In My Memory which gave him several major hits that launched his career as well as his remix of
Delerium's "
Silence" featuring
Sarah McLachlan
which exposed him to more mainstream audiences. As his popularity rose
in the early 2000s he became the first DJ to perform to a large crowd
without any other DJs or opening acts. He was crowned the "World’s No.1
DJ" 3 consecutive times by
DJ Magazine from 2002 through 2004.
[6]
Just after releasing his second studio album
Just Be in 2004, at the
Summer Olympics he performed live at the
opening ceremony in
Athens,
Greece
becoming the first DJ to play live on stage at an Olympics Games. Songs
he made specially for the Olympics were mixed together and released as
the mix compilation
Parade of the Athletes later that year. He was appointed Officer of the
Order of Orange-Nassau in 2004 by
Queen Beatrix. He was chosen as the official ambassador for the
Dance4Life foundation in May 2006, and released the song "
Dance4Life" with Maxi Jazz to help spread the awareness of HIV/AIDS. In April 2007 Tiësto launched both his radio show
Tiësto's Club Life on
Radio 538 in the Netherlands and released his third studio album titled
Elements of Life.
The album reached number one on the Dutch album chart as well on
"Billboard Top Electronic Albums" in the U.S. and received a nomination
for a
Grammy Award in 2008.
[7] Tiësto is set to release his fourth studio album called