Armin van Buuren

Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden on 25 December 1976 and grew up nearby in Koudekerk aan den Rijn. He has cited the French electronic composer Jean-Michel Jarre and Dutch remixer Ben Liebrand as early influences, and studied law at Leiden University after finishing school at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1995.

He began working as a DJ in 1996 at Club Nexus, playing multiple sets a week, many lasting six hours or longer. In 1999 he met promoter Dave Lewis, who booked him for shows in England and the United States. As his career took off he paused his law studies, later returning to graduate in 2003.

His early releases included the EP Push on Timeless Records in 1996 and "Blue Fear" on Cyber Records the following year. "Communication" became a favourite in Ibiza in 1999 and, after van Buuren signed to AM PM Records, reached number 18 on the UK singles chart in 2000. That same period he started his own label, Armind.

In 2001 he launched the radio show A State of Trance, which grew into a weekly institution broadcast to close to 40 million listeners across 84 countries on more than 100 FM stations, with a touring event series built around it. He also co-founded the label Armada Music, extending his reach beyond the radio show itself.

Alongside instrumental club records, van Buuren has worked extensively with vocalists, and "This Is What It Feels Like" earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording, making him only the fourth trance artist ever nominated. He has been voted number one in DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs poll five times, and holds the record for the most entries, twenty-one, on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart. His sets typically move between uplifting and progressive trance, often stretching to marathon lengths.