Tijs Michiel Verwest OON (Dutch; born 17 January 1969), better known by his stage name Tiësto (/tiˈɛstoʊ/ tee-ES-toh; Dutch: [ˈcɛstoː]), is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Breda. He was named "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by Mix magazine in a poll voted by the fans.[6] In 2013, he was voted by DJ Mag readers as the "best DJ of the last 20 years".[7] He is also regarded as the "Godfather of EDM" by many sources.
In 1997, he founded the label Black Hole Recordings with Arny Bink, where he released the Magik and In Search of Sunrise CD series. Tiësto met producer Dennis Waakop Reijers in 1998; the two have worked together extensively since then.
From 1998 to 2000, Tiësto collaborated with Ferry Corsten under the name Gouryella. His 2000 remix of Delerium's "Silence" featuring Sarah McLachlan exposed him to more mainstream audiences. In 2001, he released his first solo album, In My Memory, which gave him several major hits that launched his career. He was voted World No. 1 DJ by DJ Magazine in its annual Top 100 DJs readership poll consecutively for three years from 2002 to 2004.
Just after releasing his second studio album Just Be he performed live at the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Athens, the first DJ to play live on stage at an Olympics. In April 2007 Tiësto launched his radio show Tiësto's Club Life on Radio 538 in the Netherlands and released his third studio album Elements of Life. The album reached number one on the Belgian album chart as well on "Billboard Top Electronic Albums" in the U.S. and received a nomination for a Grammy Award in 2008.[19] Tiësto released his fourth studio album Kaleidoscope in October 2009, followed by A Town Called Paradise in June 2014. He won the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his remixed version of John Legend's hit "All of Me" at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards.[20]