Armin van Buuren

Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren OON (, ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer.

Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden, on 25 December 1976, and grew up in Koudekerk aan den Rijn.

He was inspired by French electronic music composer Jean-Michel Jarre and Dutch DJ and Remixer Ben Liebrand.

Van Buuren graduated from the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1995, and studied law at Leiden University.

He began working as a DJ in Club Nexus in 1996, playing multiple sets a week, most of which lasted six or more hours.

In 1996, van Buuren released EP and Push on Timeless Records.

van Buuren had his first success with a track called "Blue Fear", which was released under the Cyber Records label in 1997.

In 1999, he met Dave Lewis who introduced him as a DJ in England and the United States.

Another successful track, "Communication", was released under the same label and became popular in Ibiza, Spain in the summer of 1999.

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.

During this year, he remixed the first two singles of Gouryella (Gouryella and Walhalla) and, under the guise of Rising Star, produced a remix of L'Esperanza, a song by Airscape.

After being signed to AM PM Records, this track entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 18 in 2000.

In 2000, Van Buuren started his own Armin van Buuren compilation series, a mix of progressive house and vocal trance styles of music.

His first compilation album, A State of Trance (not to be confused with his weekly A State of Trance radio shows), sold 10,000 copies and contains Van Buuren's remix of Moogwai, "Viola".

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 titled "Exhale " for the System F album, Out of the Blue.

Released as a single, this track reached Gold status.

Under the pseudonym Gaia he released "4 Elements" on Captivating Sounds, a sub-label of Warner Brothers.

His second album, Basic Instinct featured a new track: Perpetuous Dreamer – "The Sound of Goodbye".

Since 2001, he has hosted A State of Trance (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40 million listeners in 84 countries on over 100 FM radio stations.

According to the website DJs and Festivals, "the radio show propelled him to stardom and helped cultivate an interest in trance music around the world".

Van Buuren has won a number of accolades.

He has been ranked the number one DJ by DJ Mag a record of five times, four years in a row.

He was ranked fifth on the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs list in 2022, as well as fourth in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020, and third in 2017.

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.

As his musical career began to take off, he put his law degree on hold, but he did return to graduate from law school in 2003.

On 18 September 2009, van Buuren married Erika van Thiel.

Their daughter Fenna was born in July 2011.

van Buuren announced just hours before he was due to headline the main stage at Tomorrowland (27 July 2013) that his wife had given birth to a son, Remy.

In 2014, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for his single "This Is What It Feels Like" featuring Trevor Guthrie, which makes him the fourth trance artist ever to receive a Grammy Award nomination.

In the United States, he holds the record for most entries, twenty-one, on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart.

On 16 February 2018, van Buuren explored his family history in an episode of the TV series Verborgen verleden, the Dutch version of the UK series Who Do You Think You Are?.