Martin Garrix

Martin Garrix was born as Martijn Gerard Garritsen on May 14, 1996 in Amstelveen, a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands, to Gerard and Karin Garritsen. He has a sister, Laura. He graduated from the ‘Herman Brood Academie’ in 2013 with the MBO diploma in ‘artistic pop music’. He is currently dating model Charelle Schriek.

Martin Garrix’s career as an Electronic Dance Music (EDM) star began at 14, when he served as a disc jockey at his high school dance. After meeting Tiësto and having him as a mentor, he released his first tracks, ‘BFAM’ (with Julian Jordan) and ‘Just Some Loops’ (with TV Noise). In 2012, he released ‘Error 404’ (with Jay Hardway), his first track through ‘Spinnin' Records’. The following year he released ‘Torrent’ (with Sidney Samson) on Tiësto’s own label, Musical Freedom. Released as a digital download on June 16, 2013, his first mega hit, ‘Animals’, was also his first solo work. The track topped multiple listings in Europe. It also helped Garrix become the youngest person with a song that climbed to the No.1 spot on the electronic music store ‘Beatport’.

His second collaboration with Hardway, ‘Wizard’ was released on 2 December 2013. The song was later used in the film ‘Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)’. ‘Helicopter’ (a collaborative effort between Garrix and Firebeatz) was ranked No.1 on the Beatport chart for two consecutive weeks. In early 2014, he headlined the‘Ultra Music Festival’ for the first time. On February 6, 2015, he released his first progressive house track ‘Forbidden Voices’, a distinct departure from his usual big room sound. In the same month he worked with Usher on the single ‘Don’t Look Down’. He played the song ‘Rewind Repeat It’ featuring Ed Sheeran at the Ultra Music Festival in 2015 in Miami.

The mid-2015 saw his exit from ‘Spinnin' Records’ over a contention about the ownership of his music. In early 2016 he launched ‘STMPD RCRDS’, and through the label he released his new track ‘Now That I’ve Found You’. His promotional single ‘Opps’, released on June 13, 2016, was picked as the ‘Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016’ anthem. His contract signing with ‘Sony Music’ came about on July 26, 2016. Garrix and singer Troye Sivan performed their collaborative song ‘There For you’ at the ‘2017 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival in California. He is now all set to support Justin Bieber at the 'Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park' show in July 2017. He has also made two appearances on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ as a music guest, first in 2016, and then again in 2017.

Martin Garrix won the ‘2013 Dance Music Awards’ for ‘Best Electro / Progressive Track’, ‘DJ of the Year’, and ‘Newcomer of the Year’. In 2014, he was awarded ‘The Buma Award’ for ‘Best International Song’ and ‘MTV Clubland Award’ for the track ‘Animals’. In 2016 he received the ‘MTV Millennial Award’ for ‘Beat Guru’, ‘MTV Europe Music Award’ for ‘Best Electronic’ and ‘Best Word Stage Performance,’ and ‘NRJ Music Awards’ for ‘Best International DJ’ and ‘Best Live Performance’.

In May 2015, Martin Garrix appeared on a video to tell a joke alongside Kat Deluna, North of Nine, and Halsey in support of Red Nose Day, a fund-raising event organised by Comic Relief. A year later he performed at an event in Los Angeles benefiting the non-profit organization ‘Fuck Cancer’ which is dedicated to early detection, prevention, and providing support to those affected by cancer. He toured India in November 2016 and performed at a special charity show in Mumbai with all the proceeds from the show going to ‘Magic Bus’, an organization supporting the education of 10k children all over the country.

‘SOS Children’s Village in South Africa’ named him an ‘international friend’ on February 24, 2017.