Martin Garrix

Genre: Big Room · House · Pop

Origin: Netherlands

Martin Garrix – the name that belongs to one of the youngest and most successful DJs/producers championing the pop and electronic scene. Garrix has taken his expertise across the globe, by headlining festivals, breaking through territories, and collaborating with major stars including Dua Lipa, Bono and The Edge (U2), Khalid, and Macklemore. The Dutch superstar continues to operate in a musical world of his own. His sounds are powerful both emotionally and physically and never far from the top of the charts.

Stretching back to humbler beginnings the DJ/producer, who was born and bred in The Netherlands, cites his introduction to dance music as watching Tiësto’s performance at the 2004 Olympics opening ceremony in Athens. Marching to the beat of his own drum – a trait that unbeknownst to him would carry him extremely far – he started to show his skillset, which was refined both at home and while studying music production at a specialist school.

Now in his late twenties, over ten years into a career that began with the Dutchman bursting through the EDM stratosphere by debuting the single ‘Animals’ back in 2013. The invigorating, dance-floor stomper soared to the top of the charts worldwide, ultimately altering the status of what would be considered popular music. This marked one of the most defining moments of his career and the industry, which then solidified Garrix as the new face of electronic music at the early age of 17 years.

Sending a breath of fresh air back into the scene with his youthful approach, energetic spirit, impressive tunnel-visioned focus, and devotion to creating quality music he powered on, releasing a slew of hits a year later. These included ‘Proxy’, ‘Helicopter’, ‘Wizard’, ‘Turn Up The Speakers’, ‘Virus’, and ‘Gold Skies’, all of which impressively remain relevant up to this date and find themselves still woven into his sets, performance after performance. Kickstarting 2015 with a major collaboration, Garrix hit the ground running with ‘Don’t Look Down’ featuring Usher and cult classic ‘The Only Way Is Up’ featuring his idol Tiësto.

Continuing his voyage to conquer the mainstream catchment area over the years, Garrix has become responsible for providing us with infectious and anthemic dance and pop records through the 2010s alongside a string of memorable collaborations from (2016) ‘In The Name Of Love’ featuring Bebe Rexha, (2017) ‘Scared To Be Lonely’ featuring Dua Lipa, ‘There For You’ featuring Troye Sivan, (2018)’Ocean’ featuring Khalid, (2019) ‘Summer Days’ with Macklemore and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy and last but certainly not least (2021) ‘We Are The People’ with Bono and The Edge. Some of the earlier artists at the time were at the beginning of their careers and arguably began burgeoning after the success of their sonic affiliation.

This musician’s ear for electronic-infused backdrops has allowed him to impact the world with his infectious productions, both digitally – accumulating a notable 25 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone – through monumental, once-in-a-lifetime performances such as the Winter Olympics 2018, Coachella, Lollapalooza, Ultra Music Festival, Tomorrowland (to name a couple) and eventually announcing to be the Official UEFA Euro 2020 music artist, committing to produce the official song for the tournament as well as other key music at the finals. At every one of the high- powered and vibrant light-displayed live shows he delivers, Garrix showcases his intrinsic capability to uplift and connect with a crowd from behind his decks.

His stream count and recognition from reputable events alone have seen him acknowledged by plenty of publications; like being listed as number one on DJ Mag’s Top 100 for three years in a row, with the fourth year added in 2022 and the fifth in 2024. Garrix frequents around 120 events worldwide yearly, all while spearheading STMPD RCRDS (pronounced Stamped Records) his record label which was named in honor of his father’s stamp auctioning business. STMPD RCRDS was formed with the ethos of “Artists First. Always.”

In addition to leading with artists in mind, Garrix also saw the label as an outlet that would help him discover the extent of his creativity as he strives to diversify his discography. Alongside the label, Garrix has renovated a studio complex in Amsterdam, STMPD recording studios, which has already opened its doors to some highly respected forces within the industry including Lady Gaga, Sam Smith, Tame Impala, Nicky Jam, and RAYE, as well as several production companies and agencies like Netflix, ABC, and CBS.

Starting strong in 2021 with a billion Spotify streams accolade for ‘In The Name Of Love’ with Bebe Rexha and his collaboration with Tove Lo on ‘Pressure’, Garrix spearheaded into a big year. With the official UEFA EURO 2020 song ‘We Are The People’ with Bono and The Edge released, and his project with Maejor, AREA21, rolling out with impressive new music accompanied by animated videos, ultimately leading to the release of ‘Greatest Hits Vol. 1’, Garrix’s first album ever.

Fans were hardly able to take it all in and had to quickly catch their breath as he was gearing up for 2022. With the live shows back in full swing, Garrix had a lot of club music under his sleeves and decided to release his first-ever club album ‘Sentio’. After closing off one of his busiest summers to date, the year was topped off with Garrix ascending to the apex of DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs Poll for a fourth year. The fourth win was announced with a live-streamed set, recorded on top of the iconic Empire State Building in New York. The likes of Eminem, Ed Sheeran, and Elton John have been permitted to perform on top of it, but no DJ had conquered its apex — until now. Garrix closed off the year by releasing ‘Hero’, the anthem for the hit game Marvel Snap, together with JVKE.

In 2023, he solidified his status as one of the leading DJ/producers in the world. Starting with a record-selling arena tour in India, he showcased his global appeal and set new benchmarks for live electronic music events in the region. Throughout the summer, Garrix embarked on a jam-packed tour – further amplifying his international presence. The year saw him release ‘Hurricane’ and his first pop song in a long time ‘Real Love’ with Lloyiso, which landed at number 1 in the US Dance Charts. Beyond music, Garrix expanded his brand partnerships, stepping into the role of Replay ambassador and extending his collaboration with JBL. Notably, he became a sought-after performer at Formula 1 Races as Heineken’s newly announced global ambassador.

As 2024 kicked off, Garrix embarked on a South America tour and dropped his “IDEM” EP, which included highly anticipated tracks like “Carry You” and “Empty.” Just in time for the summer season, he released his brand-new live closing song “Wherever You Are,” as well as his summer anthem “Smile” featuring Carolina Liar. Adding to his incredible year, ADE saw Martin Garrix release the fan-favorite “Gravity” and make history by becoming the number 1 DJ in DJ Mag’s Top 100 for the fifth time, tying the all-time record for most wins with Armin van Buuren, who personally handed him the award.

There’s no doubt that Garrix’s ability to reinvent his brand and fearlessly experiment with his sound, by filtering its many streams of creativity to the masses with such ease, is an undeniable testament to his talent and longevity, ultimately driving his legendary narrative even further.

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