Armin Van Buuren: biography
Armin van Buuren is a DJ, producer, and composer who has won ten DJ Awards, five DJ Mag prizes, 27 IDMAs, and two International Golden Gnome Awards.
Childhood and youth
The future musician was born on December 25, 1976, in Leiden, the Netherlands. The boy’s father was fond of modern music. Little Armin knew various music genres and liked computer games; he showed much interest in new technologies.
The young man was impressed by the works of the French composer Jean-Michel Jarre who created electronic music. At the age of 14, he bought the Akai S-01 sampler and used his father’s keyboard to compose his first works; he sent the demo versions to DJ Ben Liebrand.
The musician immediately included those tracks to his album; the young man earned some money and bought new music equipment.
In 1995, Armin graduated from school and presented the first vinyl disc Blue Fear; it proved to be popular in Great Britain. As a school student, van Buuren was going to study law at Leiden University. Van Buuren did attend the university for a while but dropped; he returned to the studies after 2003.
Music
The beginning DJ started his career at the Nexus club. 1999 brought the popular song “Communication” created with AM PM Records; it entered British music charts soon. The same year, Armin van Buuren gave a series of concerts and founded his own company, Armind. The debuting release Gig – One strengthened the artist’s positions.
As the musician reached success, he collaborated with DJ Tiësto and presented Major League “Wonder Where You Are?” and Alibi “Eternity”. Soon, van Buuren’s studio opened new branches: A State of Trance, 68 Recordings, Bandung, Captivating Sounds, Club Elite, Coldharbour Recordings, Electronic Elements, and Fame Recordings. It transformed into the international trance music empire.
At the beginning of 2001, Armin launched A State Of Trance show at ID&T radio channel. Every Thursday, listeners could enjoy a two-hour mix of trance music. 30 million users listened to it online; the show creators presented the video version of the program broadcast from the Amsterdam studio. Each year, two collections of the most popular tracks were presented. Armin van Buuren’s work made him the most recognizable trance music figure.
In 2003, the artist released the first solo album 76 with the international hits “Blue Fear” and “Burned with Desire”. He continued to give concerts all over the globe and participated in Sensation White, Godskitchen, and Gatecrasher; besides, he collaborated with Gabriel & Dresden, Airwave, System F, M.I.K.E., Justine Suissa, Nadia Ali, and Ray Wilson.
In 2007, DJ Mag named van Buuren the best DJ in the world. The next year, the man received the most prestigious Dutch prize, the Buma Cultuur Pop Award. In April, he also presented the third album Imagine that immediately topped the national pop music chart.
The music video “In and Out of Love” created with the Within Temptation soloist Sharon den Adel became immensely popular; hundreds of millions of people watched it. In 2008, Armin kept his DJ Mag top position; he repeated the success in 2009, 2010, and 2012.
In 2009, Cloud 9 Music, Armada, and Foreign Media Games contributed to the music game Armin van Buuren: In the Mix for the Wii console.
2010 brought the fourth studio album Mirage with the well-known hits “Full Focus” and “This Light Between Us”. The music video for the latter came out; Christian Burns contributed to it. The collaboration with Sophie Ellis-Bextor was equally popular: they presented the track “Not Giving Up on Love”. Van Buuren visited 15 countries with the supporting tour.
In 2010, Sirius XM Radio launched the new 24-hour show, A State of Sundays. The DJ has broken several records: for instance, he gave a 12-hour trance music concert and did not leave the stage for a minute.
The musician celebrated the tenth anniversary of A State of Trance by concerts in South Africa, Miami, Buenos Aires, the Hertogenbosch province (the Netherlands), and Sydney. In 2013, the fifth studio album was released; it contained 15 tracks, including “Waiting for the Night” with Fiora and “Beautiful Life” with Cindy Alma. The artist was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
In 2013, Armin headlined the concert coinciding with the coronation of Willem-Alexander, the son of Queen Beatrix. The musician performed with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima, and their three daughters appeared on the stage.
Van Buuren is the Officer of the Order of Orange Nassau for his services to music.
2015 was marked with the album Embrace and the opening of the most expensive club in the world, Omnia, Las Vegas. The most popular DJs, including Armin Van Buuren, participated in the events; he gained about $ 80 000.
In 2016, the artist presented the songs “Sunny Days” and “I Need You”; their music videos came out the next year. In spring 2017, van Buuren visited Moscow with a large show at the Olympic Stadium.
35 musicians prepared Armin Only Embrace; the members of the Dutch group Kensington, the singer Cimo Fränkel, and the rapper Mr. Probz were among them. The same year, in March, van Buuren visited the United States and participated at Live at Ultra Music Festival in Miami.
Personal life
Armin met his future wife, Erika van Thiel, in Cyprus, where he was giving a concert.
The woman accompanied her boyfriend everywhere and endured his fans’ attention. Indeed, many liked the tall (6.17 feet or 188 cm.) and athletic (176.37 lbs. or 80 kg.) brown-eyed blond.
The couple did not marry at once: the DJ was busy with his work, especially when he became an international star. Erika and Armin lived about ten years in a common-law union and then married officially.
The ceremony took place on September 18, 2009. Two years later, the musician announced on his Twitter he was going to become a father. The first child, the daughter Fenna, was born in July 2011; the son Remy was born two years later.
Present days
At the end of 2017, the Dutch DJ announced a series of educational videos; they were released on Master Class early in 2018. Armin shared some technical details, described how to create a track, and reflected on his personal approach to music and shows.
The artist has an Instagram page and regularly shares new pictures from music festivals; there are few pictures with his family and kids.
In 2018, van Buuren visited the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia: as soon as the final match finished, the DJ continued the celebration at the Moscow club Gipsy. Many soccer fans went from the Luzhniki Stadium to the Bolotnaya embankment.
The same year, DJ Magazine put the musician to the fourth position of the top DJs; Martin Garrix, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, and Hardwell surpassed him. Van Buuren is not upset about it: the modern world is changing rapidly, and it is useless to look for fame. The man calls himself a happy person; although he cannot change the whole system, he can cheer up some people and make them dance.
Today, the artist continues to work on international dance projects in Las Vegas and Ibiza.
Armin van Buuren’s net worth is $55 million in 2019.
Discography
- 2003 – 76
- 2005 – Shivers
- 2008 – Imagine
- 2010 – Mirage
- 2013 – Intense
- 2015 – Embrace
