From: The Netherlands
DJ style: “Pop/dance."
Best known for: “Hits such as ‘Summer Days’, ‘In The Name Of Love’, ‘We Are The People’ (for UEFA EURO 2020), ‘Scared To Be Lonely’ and ‘Animals’. Performances at Formula 1 worldwide, The Olympics and headlining festivals all over the world.”
Martin Garrix is no longer just a star of the dance music world. He is a globally recognised talent who has worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Usher and U2. He has won this poll four times since 2016 and has not been out of the Top 10 since first entering it in 2014. Still only 27, but with an enduringly baby-faced look, he has remained proudly independent in that time, and always one step ahead of prevailing musical trends.
Most recently he has hooked up with South African rising star and gifted singer-songwriter Lloyiso, an artist he first discovered when he came across one of his covers online. The pair organised a meet up in New York and wrote three tunes in one session and the first of them — the deliriously happy dance-pop track ‘Real Love’ — arrived via his STMPD label in late September.
On top of this, Garrix has continued to play the world's biggest stages from Tomorrowland to Creamfields to three sold out nights at The Brooklyn Mirage. Summer for the Dutchman was once again dominated by his popular Thursday residency at Ushuaïa Ibiza. It was a second summer on the bounce and saw him play with friends and peers like ACRAZE, Ferreck Dawn and Disciples.
Despite all the success Garrix has had from MTV awards, YouTube awards and radio awards via his Top 100 DJ poll wins, he remains a grounded figure who has said before that his main goal is "not lists or charting" but simply to make people happy with the music he makes and the shows he plays.
When asked about his year, Garrix says as well as “doing a lot of shows all over the world”, he has also been working on “some exciting projects that will be revealed soon”, and has “been making loads of new music that I can’t wait to share”.
One of those projects is a limited edition JBL Flip 6 Martin Garrix which he has co-designed, and another is the ‘Garrix 10’ note, a collector's item made available for purchase at select locations across Amsterdam during this year's ADE. Each note lists all his songs to date, features his autograph and “UV-activated imagery that reveals itself under blacklight”. Most important of all, though, is the fact that all proceeds of its sales are to be donated to two charities that the artist has supported for years, namely SOS Children’s Villages and War Child.
For that alone, the Dutchman deserves the hero status he enjoys amongst his millions of diehard fans.
Hero of 2023: “Fred again..”
Fave tune of 2023: “Crime Zcene ‘Wild’.”
Best DJ set you’ve seen in 2023: “FISHER.”
Rising star DJ/producer of 2023: “Eleganto.”
What gives you hope for 2024? “We have a lot of exciting things lined up for 2024 that give me so much energy. I’m really looking forward to it!”
