Hardwell

Hardwell is in a relationship with Dutch event manager Yanicke Agnes since 2014. They first met the previous year in a bar in his hometown of Breda. His parents are involved with a foundation that helps young artists deal with contracts, managers and record labels.

Hardwell was born as Robbert van de Corput on January 7, 1988 in Breda, a city in the Netherlands, to Anneke and Cor van de Corput. He was only four years old when he began taking piano lessons and started attending a music school.

He began performing as a hip-hop-DJ at the age of twelve and recorded his first electro songs around the same time. He was highly influenced by the DJ and producer Tiësto, also from Breda, and gained recognition for participating in various local DJ competitions.

Hardwell changed his style to commercial electronic dance music as hip-hop became an underground scene, and at 14, secured a record deal with ‘Digidance’ by Dutch producer duo Klubbheads. He released his first official two-disc-record, 'Bubbling Beats 1’, three weeks later and subsequently toured through the Netherlands, appearing in a number of dance clubs.

In 2006, he released his first official single ‘Play It Around’ which became popular at German clubs as well. For the track, he combined his own style with most popular musical genres.

He collaborated with Greatski on the song ‘Never Knew Love’ which was released at the end of 2007 and became his first Top 40 hit on the official German single-charts, reaching No. 32. His remixes of Gregor Salto’s and Chuckie’s ‘Toys Are’ together with Dutch DJ and producer R3hab, and ‘You Do not Love Me’ by Sidney Samson and Skitzofrenix also topped the dance charts for weeks.

He produced a mash up of ‘Be’ by Steve Angello and Laidback Luke and ‘Show Me Love’ by Robin S., which was released as an official cover version of ‘Show Me Love’ in December 2008. He gained farther exposure in the Netherlands after he performed with Tiësto on stage, following which he produced the official anthem of ‘Dancevalley Festival’ under the title of ‘Twilight Zone’.

In 2010, he founded his own record label, 'Revealed Recordings', which served as a launch pad for young talents releasing electronic dance music. Through this, he released a compilation album each year, containing his new songs and tracks released by the label, and for its fifth anniversary, released 100 most popular tracks chosen by fans on his website.

Hardwell earned international recognition with his bootleg of 'Show Me Love vs Be' in 2009. He is best known for his debut studio album, 'United We Are', the soundtrack of his documentary 'I Am Hardwell', as well as his three 'Hardwell & Friends' EPs.