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Armin van Buuren

Biography
Armin van Buuren has been named number one in the prestigious DJ MAG Top 100 poll four times in a row, as the first DJ in the history of the DJ Magazine and an indication of his prolific output over the more than 14 years he’s been dj’ing and producing. Being the official World’s Most Popular DJ is just one of his many achievements, but the driving force behind his success is an overriding passion for dance music.

1993 - 1994
At the age of 16 Armin van Buuren buys his first turntables. His idol is Dutch mixer Ben Liebrand.

1995
From the money he has earned with his first demo, Van Buuren buys new and better equipment and by the end of the year he releases his first single on vinyl.

1996
Van Buuren releases his songs on different labels and under different names. He also works as a DJ in club Nexus.

1997
Van Buuren's big break starts in the UK with the song Blue Fear, which enters the UK charts.

1999
Van Buuren launches his own Armind label.

2000
Van Buuren starts to work on two projects with DJ Tiësto. The first one is called Major League with the single Wonder Where You Are? and the second one being Alibi, with the single Eternity. Van Buuren performs everywhere from Ibiza to Crete, the UK, Israel and Japan. He also makes his name as a remixer. A double CD containing remixes, Armin van Buuren 001: A State Of Trance, is released.

2001
Each Friday night Van Buuren has a radio programme on ID&T Radio. The double CD Armin Van Buuren 002 is released in February. The single The Sound Of Goodbye, which he releases under the pseudonym Perpetuous Dreamer, is released in the UK (on Cream) and Germany (Gango). The double CD Armin Van Buuren 003 (subtitled: In Motion) is also released this year.

2002
Van Buuren tours Canada and plays sets in Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto. He remixes tracks for Solar Stone (7 Cities), Cygnus X (Positron) and Riva (Time Is The Healer). He is working on his first solo album, which is preceded by a fourth mix album called Transparance. Under the name Perpetuous Dreamer he releases the track The Sound Of Goodbye, which hits the number one spot of the Billboard Dance Chart. During the summer Van Buuren makes a weekly trip to Ibiza for his regular DJ set. After the summer he tours through Australia. Yet Another Day, the first single from his debut album, is released in October. Vocalist on this track is Ray Wilson. The accompanying video is shot in Rumania.

2003
Armin van Buuren is invited to do the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. The single Sound Of Goodbye of Perpetuous Dreamer is nominated for an International Dance Star Award in the category Best Hi-Ng/Euro Track. Van Buuren releases his first solo album in June. Guest musicians on the album include Victoria Horn, Ray Wilson, Justine Suissa, Ferry Corsten, Airwave and Krezip. In the summer he kicks off the international Armin Only-tour.

2004
Debut album 76 is nominated by The Dance Music Academy for a USA Dancestar Award in the category Borders Award For Best New Artist Album. Armin van Buuren has to compete against Audio Bullys, Goldfrapp, The Postal Service and The Rapture. He also releases a mix album called A State Of Trance 2004. Van Buren is voted Best Dutch DJ by his colleagues and is awarded a 'Duiveltje,' a 'Devil Award.' The award is initiated by the Dutch Rock and Pop Institute. On August 12 Armin van Buuren plays for six hours in a row at New York's Central Park. Based on votes by its readers, leading UK dance publication DJ Magazine puts together a list of the world's Best DJ's. Armin reaches third place.

2005
At Miami's Winter Music Conference in March Van Buuren wins an International Dance Music Award in the category Best Dance Radio Mix show for his radio show A State Of Trance. Along with Weezer, Cocteau Twins, Chemical Brothers, Keane, Nine Inch Nails, New Order and The Prodigy, Armin van Buuren performs live at LA's Coachella festival. The single Serenity (featuring piano player Jan Vayne) is the theme song to dance festival Sensation White. In the summertime he heads back to Ibiza for 10 Armada Nights. He also spins at the Armada nights at Pacha in Barcelona. He's headliner at Sensation, where he does a DJ set and a separate show with pianist Jan Vayne. At Dance Valley, where he provides a six-hour set, he has his own outdoor Armada grounds. On August 8 his second album Shivers is released. This mix of trance, techno, house and rock/pop features Gabriel & Dresden, Nadia Ali, Remy & Roland Klinkenberg plus singer Ray Wilson. With DJ Paul Oakenfold he embarks on a US tour. On November 12 Van Buuren performs a solo show at Rotterdam Ahoy'.

2006
In February the Armin Only The Next Level DVD enjoys a number 1 entry in the Mega DVD Music Top 30. It contains footage from the 9,5-hour Ahoy' set plus some videos. On February 11 Van Buuren performs live at Trance Energy at the Utrecht Convention Centre. On March 15 in Amsterdam's Melkweg he receives an Edison Award for Best Dance act. At the Winter Music Conference in Miami Van Buuren takes home a prestigious International Dance Music Award in the category Best Dance Radio Mix Show DJ. Armin van Buuren makes a remix of the Herman Brood song Saturday Night. The song features in the film Wild Romance, about the life of Dutch rocker Herman Brood.

2007
During the awards ceremony of the International Dance Music Awards at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, Van Buuren picks up the first prize in the category Best Radio Mix Show for A State Of Trance. The album also receives an award in the category Best CD Compilation. Starting April, Armin van Buuren can be heard on Slam! FM radio with his show A State Of Trance. The double mix CD A State Of Trance 2007 (May) features two of Van Buuren's own tracks: Miserere and Rush Hour. Just like the 2006 edition, one CD has as subtitle On The Beach and the other is called In The Club. Van Buuren performs with the bell-ringers of the Martini tower in Groningen during the free of charge dance party armada@groningen.

2008
At the Noorderslag festival Armin van Buuren receives the Popprijs 2007. He cannot be present to accept the award (a sum of 10.000 Euros and a sculpture) because he is in Brazil at the time. On 19 April Van Buuren presents his new album Imagine with the show Armin Only - Imagine in front of more than 15.000 people in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. Imagine is recorded over a period of two years in eight different locations, from Washington to the Netherlands and from Los Angeles to Ireland. Guest vocalists on the album are Jacqueline Govaert (Krezip), Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation) and others. First single coming from the album is the track Going Wrong with vocals by British singer Chris Jones. Van Buuren contributes to the song Going Wrong that features on the album Songbook by German producer DJ Shah. For the second consecutive year Armin van Buuren hits the top spot of the DJ Magazine Top 100.

2009
In March Armin van Buuren is one of the big winners during the International Dance Music Awards in Miami, the biggest dance conference in the world. The Dutch DJ wins awards in the categories Best Progressive House/Trance Track (for the track In And Out Of Love with Within Temptation singer Sharon den Adel), Best European DJ, Best Radio Mix Show and Best Music Video (also for In And Out Of Love). The label Armada Music, of which Van Buuren is co-owner, wins an award for Best Global Record Label. Two weeks before the mix CD A State Of Trance 2009 hits the shops, the exclusive pre-release reaches number one of the iTunes Dance chart of the Netherlands, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, within 24 hours. For the third consecutive time, Armin van Buuren is the most popular DJ according to the leading popularity poll of the renowned DJ Magazine. According to figures by Internet research company streamCerf, the DJ is number six in the Top 10 of most played artists on Internet radio.