The best European DJs have worked at the forefront of electronic music, helping to define some of the biggest genres and performing at packed nightclubs.
Outside of the continent, their world tours and guest spots have earned them international recognition and acclaim from dance music lovers worldwide.
In this article, we break down the details of the hottest DJs in Europe you need to follow, covering their style, residencies, and career highlights.
The 10 Best European DJs To Follow
A DJ’s status and regular bookings, their discography, and overall crowd approval are all factors to consider. We also looked for traits that may continue to vault their careers.
In the end, we have 10 amazing European DJs who we consider leaders, innovators, and luminaries of the European nightlife landscape.
Here’s our round-up of the 10 best European DJs to follow:
10. Charlotte de Witte
Nationality: Belgian
Charlotte de Witte’s success looks a lot like her DJ sets; fast and fierce. Born and raised in Belgium, de Witte began DJing in 2010.
In 2011, after winning a DJ contest, she played Tomorrowland under the alias Raving George. She followed up her performance with EP releases under the same name, from 2013 to 2015, with some success. She also continued DJing across Europe and abroad.
After 2015, she dropped Raving George and went with her given name. She said she chose Raving George to avoid negative stereotypes of female DJs.
With her meteoric success, she’s been able to break many of those stereotypes. As Charlotte de Witte the DJ, she has shown she’s ready to wield the respect she’s earned. See her set from Tomorrowland 2018 for proof.
The 2020 Tomorrowland was a no-go for attendance because of Covid. Charlotte and other DJs performed online, instead, to crowds of millions worldwide. She’s also more recently collaborated with Formula 1 racing to promote her Formula EP.
9. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike
Nationality: Belgian/Greek
We’re in at #9 on our list with the Thivaios brothers. Born in Belgium and of Greek descent, the brothers started working on their DJ skills early in life.
By 2009, they released their own single as a duo. In 2010, they were asked to write the official anthem for Tomorrowland. The duo wrote the anthems for the following four years, too.
In 2015, Dimitri and Mike landed their first #1 with The Hum. They also found themselves atop dj polls across Europe and the US.
From 2015 through the present day, the DJ duo have traded #1 spots in the DJ Mag annual poll with DJs Martin Garrix and David Guetta. Check their website to see where they’ll perform next.
8. Zedd
Nationality: German/Russian
Anton Zaslavski, publicly known as Zedd, finds the eighth spot in our list of European DJs.
With a strong musical background, Zedd has found great success with artist collaborations.
Selena Gomez, Arianna Grande, Katy Perry, and Maren Morris, to name a few. Zedd has also been successful in remixing artists like Skrillex, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber.
Additionally, Zedd maintains a busy worldwide touring and performance schedule. He also holds a residency at club Zouk in Las Vegas. These high-profile shows will further propel Zedd’s popularity and recognition.
Zedd’s musical success has earned him a Grammy, Billboard Awards, iHeartRadio awards, and even a Teen Choice award.
He also worked with National Geographic in 2018 to produce a song for their documentary One Strange Rock. This kind of versatility continues to increase respect for dance music and the dance music community.
7. Carl Cox
Nationality: British
Carl Cox has been controlling the vibe forever. A fixture of the UK and European nightlife for over four decades, Coxy is the man.
Carl Cox got his start as a mobile DJ at 15. By the mid-80s, he had become an integral part of the emerging rave culture in Britain. One of his specialties was DJing with three turntables.
As his status grew in the 90s, Carl Cox could be seen in clubs throughout the UK, Europe, and the world. He was also the global resident of BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix for 1998 and 1999.
Among other achievements, he began a residency at Club Space in Ibiza in 2001. Lasting 15 years, his residency helped establish his superstar status. He capped off his residency in 2016 with a 10-hour set!
Cox has become a de-facto ambassador of dance music. His love of entertaining a crowd has impacted countless individuals. He continues to tour, and you can check his tour dates on his site. Whether by style or smile, Cox wins.
6. Martin Garrix
Nationality: Dutch
The Dutch have definitely cracked the code on dance floor magic. For our next DJ, we stay in the Netherlands and highlight the younger end of the DJ spectrum.
Martin Garrix, born in 1996, has ascended the DJ ranks with hit records (Animals) and big stage performances at festivals like Ultra, Coachella, and EDC.
Garrix represents the EDM crowd with aplomb. His releases and DJ work have remained consistent, and his star power is on display in modeling and film appearances.
Garrix also released a debut album in April of 2022, entitled Sentio. As a series of weekly single releases, Garrix expands the album release timeline. The releases are mainly collaborations with other artists.
Garrrix turns 26 this year. His career, as illustrious as it seems, is still only getting started. How long will he remain one of the top European DJs? Let’s find out.
5. Eric Prydz
Nationality: Swedish
You can’t talk about European DJs without mentioning Sweden and the Swedish House Mafia connection.
Eric Prydz first gained recognition with 2004’s Call On Me. Borrowing from Steve Winwood, Prydz crafted a catchy and recognizable club tune, perfect for peak hours.
In subsequent years, Prydz remixed Pink Floyd, helped elevate Swedish producers, and unveiled the “Pryda snare”. Prydz has also headed up the Pryda recordings label since 2004.
He has since released a number of artist albums to celebrate milestones of his recording label.
Prydz has elevated the lights and visuals game for DJs with his EPIC concert series. By providing professionally engineered and designed light shows, Prydz engulfs the audience in a multi-media experience.
4. Armin van Buuren
Nationality: Dutch
Heading back to the Netherlands, we find Armin van Buuren. Radio host, DJ, producer, and trance music aficionado van Buuren wears many hats.
Starting in 2001, van Buuren began hosting a weekly radio show called A State of Trance. Broadcast through ID&T Radio, a Dutch multimedia enterprise, van Buuren was able, over time, to reach millions of listeners.
By increasing a worldwide interest and appreciation for trance music, he also found himself receiving more attention. As a DJ and producer, this leads to more gigs and releases.
Throughout the 2000s, van Buuren continued the radio show, along with appearances across Europe. He has also released seven studio albums between 2003 and 2019.
Armin van Buuren is still hosting his weekly radio show and has also expanded to include a festival of the same name.
3. Tiësto
Nationality: Dutch
Few DJs can claim the level of global recognition this man commands. Born Tijs Michiel Verwest, Tiësto is easily one of the top DJs of the last 20 years.
Hailing from the Netherlands, this DJ is one of the largest forces in Trance and EDM gaining worldwide popularity. His sets are regularly attended by thousands.
In 2004, Tiësto became part of the Olympic Games hosted in Greece. Along with being asked to DJ for the opening ceremony, he was also involved in creating music for the entirety of the games. Opportunities like this don’t come around every day.
Throughout his career, Tiësto has successfully toured the world and released a prolific amount of music. Either as singles, remixes, or studio albums, Tiësto’s releases continue to flow.
His latest project, The London Sessions, is his 6th album to date.
2. Calvin Harris
Nationality: Scottish
For many DJs, the act of DJing is just one aspect of their musical output. For Calvin Harris, singing and songwriting is as much a part of his repertoire as are the CDJs.
Representing Scotland, Harris found success through a savvy combination of all of it.
Starting in 2006, Calvin Harris has grown as an artist for quite a while. Between writing and performing original music and DJing, Harris found a niche for his musical style.
He has provided artist support and collaborations with Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Dizzee Rascal, Kelis, Dua Lupa, and Florence Welch, to name a few.
Harris held a DJ residency at Ushuaïa Ibiza in 2019 and continues to make appearances at clubs and festivals in the US and Europe. His musical output continues to roll on, as well.
On May 27, 2022, he released a single for Funk Wav Bounces vol. 2 entitled Potion, with more singles to follow.
1. David Guetta
Nationality: French
Give the man his flowers. Being a great DJ means knowing when to give the crowd what they want.
David Guetta seems well aware of what the people want. Getting his start in Paris in the 80s, Guetta has been studying crowds for quite a while.
Throughout his career, he’s been able to position himself to grow from each success.
His studio albums and singles consistently feature superstar musical artists and have helped elevate the status of dance music producers worldwide.
Most recently, Guetta and Danish DJ/Producer MORTEN have teamed up. Under the moniker Future Rave, the duo will be in residency at Hi Ibiza throughout this summer. There seems no end in sight for this DJ icon.
Summary
We hope you’ve enjoyed this article exploring the iconic European DJs you need to follow, covering everything from cutting-edge EDM to house music legends.
As new DJs continue to emerge on the scene, the scene will continue to expand and innovate with new and exciting genres.
To reflect these changes, we’ll be updating this article in the future, so be sure to check back again for the latest and greatest European DJs.
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