The 20 Greatest EDM DJs: The Complete List
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Now 40, veteran Paul Van Dyk has been dubbed the world's greatest DJ two years running by DJ Mag. He's come far since growing up in East Berlin, where he exposed himself to music through illegally-tuned-in West Berlin radio stations and cassette tapes smuggled into the country. Nowadays, he tours the world and remixes for Madonna and U2. He's know for his modern trance and exceptional live mix that's packed venues of all sizes. If there were an award for the largest DJ audience, he just might have it, seeing as he attracted over a million dance music fans to a beach in Rio de Janeiro for his New Year's Eve gig, as 2009 was rung in. -Nicole Pajer
16. Sandra Collins
With respect to Irene, Collette, and Heather, Collins is perhaps the biggest female American to emerge from the EDM explosion of the 1990s. We have witnessed her mesmerizing, long-winded beat matching and icy cold progressive beats whip massive festival crowds into a frenzy, and her precise-yet-groovy performances have been aired on BBC Radio One. If women are mounting an assault on the top-DJs circuit, Collins is the general. -Dennis Romero
See also: Where Are the Women in EDM?
15. Kaskade
Last year Kaskade tipped off his Twitter followers that he'd be playing at the EDC film premiere in Hollywood, and more than 250,000 people a big crowd showed up. (See below.) Aside from his crowd-wrangling abilities, the Evanston, Illinois-bred DJ who specializes in progressive house has played an integral role in the rise of electronic dance music in the U.S.; he was the first DJ to headline the Staples Center, and has worked with female vocalists including Haley Gibby, Joslyn Petty, and Sunsun Tamra. A devote Mormon and the father of three, he's never had a drink or done drugs in his life. How about that. -Nicole Pajer
See also: Rave Standoff in Hollywood: Cops Move in to Disperse Crowds That Came to See DJ Kaskade
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