Tiësto
Insiders Guide to...
Who is this guy?
Tiësto. He is a world-famous trance DJ from the Netherlands
He seriously has an umlaut over the ‘E'?
Yes. Yes, he does
Real name?
Tijs Verwest
Pronounce it?
No
Some history on him?
Born in 1969, he started out playing at school parties. In 1985, he scored residencies in clubs around Holland and produced hardcore and gabba tracks under various nicknames. In the mid-90s he began moving towards trance music, establishing Black Hole records to release the tracks that solidified his position in the genre. His fame continued to build, playing to increasingly larger audiences until finally he broke through to the big time with the Tiësto In Concert event, making him the first DJ to ever do a solo stadium show. Things gathered steam from there with larger crowds (the biggest - 250,000 at Ipanema Beach in Brazil), larger venues, longer tours, accolades and eventually, he became the first ever DJ to play at an Olympic opening ceremony
Some random, non-musical trivia?
The Dutch people have voted Tiësto their 40th greatest citizen. He has collaborated with Reebok for a line of sneakers, and was instrumental in launching Windows Vista in the Netherlands, scoring his own application as a result. He also owns a Chinese restaurant.