Tiësto — Trance, House & Techno DJTiësto
Tijs Michiel Verwest, known as Tiësto, is a Dutch DJ from Breda whose career began with club residencies from 1985 to 1994. He first played new beat and acid house, became a major trance artist and formed Gouryella with Ferry Corsten in 1998, then moved more strongly toward house around 2014 before returning to trance roots in late 2025. His versatility across trance, house, techno and mainstream EDM has led to the description Godfather of EDM.
Tiësto has been a resident at Gatecrasher in Sheffield and Privilege Ibiza, and his club appearances include LIV Las Vegas and the 500th Club Life event at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome in 2016. He made history in 2004 as the first DJ to perform live at an Olympic opening ceremony, in Athens. More recent dates include EDC Las Vegas, Coachella, the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and a concert at the Giza Pyramids in 2025.
He launched Black Hole Recordings in 1997 and Musical Freedom in 2009. Club Life ran for 978 episodes on Radio 538 and SiriusXM before ending in December 2025, succeeded by Prismatic the next month. Tiësto won DJ Mag's Top 100 poll for three consecutive years from 2002 to 2004 and received a Grammy in 2015 for his remix of John Legend's All of Me.