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DJ Pauly D

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The Rhode Island DJ whose reality-television fame turned into a long-running big-room club career — a household name behind the decks.

DJ Pauly D was born Paul Michael DelVecchio Jr. on July 5, 1980, in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Donna DiCarlo and Paul D. DelVecchio Sr. and brother to Vanessa. He is of Italian descent and has named DJ AM as one of his professional idols. Before any television exposure he worked steadily as a local club and mobile DJ around Rhode Island, building the skills that later carried him into an actual touring career.

His profile changed in 2009 when casting directors for Jersey Shore contacted him after seeing his photos online, rather than his music, and he joined the cast without ever formally auditioning. The show made him a recognizable face nationally, and in 2011 he won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Reality Star: Male. He became the first Jersey Shore cast member to get his own spin-off, The Pauly D Project, which followed him touring the country as a DJ, and he later returned for Jersey Shore: Family Vacation and appeared on Famously Single.

On record, DJ Pauly D works in commercial big-room and electro house, blending current chart material with house and hip-hop grooves. He released his first single, "Beat Dat Beat (It's Time To)," in 2010, then signed a three-album deal with 50 Cent's G-Unit and G-Note labels in 2011. Later singles include "Back to Love" with Jay Sean, "Did You Know" with Tdot illdude, and "Silver & Gold" with James Kaye.

He opened select dates on Britney Spears' Femme Fatale Tour in 2011 and was nominated twice for the America's Best DJ title. Long-running residencies in Las Vegas turned that early reality-television fame into a sustained club career, one built on remix and production work as much as live turntable sets.

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