David Guetta's career from nightclub DJ to Grammy Award winner
He's had a long career in the music industry
David Guetta, the French DJ who started out playing tunes in a Paris nightclub back in the 90s, has now had huge success around the world, headlining festivals, winning awards and having Number 1 songs such as 'I'm Good (Blue)' with Bebe Rexha.
Now with new tunes 'Cry Baby', with Anne-Marie and Clean Bandit, and 'Never Going Home Tonight', let's take a look at how David Guetta became an international superstar DJ. Over the decades, David Guetta's songs have included collabs with the likes of Kelly Rowland, Rihanna, Sean Paul, Sia, Little Mix, Becky Hill, Akon and many many more!
Look through David Guetta's fantastic career from a Paris nightclub to Grammy Award winner:
Before 2000: Working as a DJ and nightclub manager
Born and raised in Paris, in the mid-90s David Guetta started working at a club called Broad Club in Paris, before becoming manager at Le Palace nightclub in the city.
During his time as a club DJ he played pop music followed by house music which he later became famous for.
2001 - 2004: David Guetta released 'Guetta Blaster'
'Just a Little More Love' featuring Chris Willis was released in 2001 and became David Guetta's first Top 20 hit in the UK. The song was included on David's debut album of the same name released a year later.
The first 'F*ck Me I'm Famous' compilation album was released in 2003, it was named after a residency David had at a club in Ibiza. A new compilation was released in the summer of most years from 2003 to 2013.
In 2004 'Guetta Blaster' was David Guetta's second studio album.
2009: David Guetta released 'When Love Takes Over' with Kelly Rowland
It was back in 2009 that David Guetta really started to have big success. He released his song 'When Love Takes Over' with Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland and it was Number 1 hit in the UK.
The song was originally instrumental, but when Kelly heard it she asked David if she could write words for it and the amazing collab happened.
The song was featured on the DJ's fourth album 'One Love' and is thought to have inspired Kelly to have a more dance sound in 2011 album 'Here I Am'.
David Guetta subsequently won a Grammy Award for his Electro Extended Mix of 'When Love Takes Over', for Best Non-Classical, Remixed Recording. He also received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording.
2010: David Guetta won his first Grammy Award
David was nominated for five Grammy Awards in 2010, but picked up just one award, for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for his song with Kelly Rowland, 'When Love Takes Over' (Electro Extended Remix).
The French DJ also had chart success with another UK Number 1, 'Gettin' Over You' with Chris Willis featuring Fergie and LMFAO.
2011: David Guetta picked up his second Grammy
In 2011, David Guetta picked up his second Grammy Award, which was for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical, the same category he won the year before.
This time, it was the remix of Madonna's song 'Revolver' with Dutch DJ Afrojack.
2011: David Guetta released 'Nothing But The Beat'
2011 was also the year that David Guetta released 'Nothing But The Beat'. The double album featured one disc full of collabs with the likes of Taio Cruz, Nicki Minaj, Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, Flo Rida, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Timbaland, Jessie J and Sia.
The second disc was full of instrumental tracks written by David Guetta, including one collaboration with the late DJ Tim Berling better known as Avicii.
David Guetta was also voted the Number 1 DJ in the world for the first time by the public in DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs in 2011.
2013: David Guetta released 'Play Hard'
2013 was a quiet year for David Guetta in terms of releases. His big hit this year was 'Play Hard' featuring Ne-Yo and Akon which he played live at Ultra Music Festival in March of that year, just after its release.
The song samples Alice Deejay's 'Better Off Alone' and has been a big hit in the clubs since, it also became a Top 10 hit here in the UK.
In 2013, David Guetta also opened for Rihanna on her 'Diamonds' world tour, performing at her Paris, London and Sunderland dates.
2016: David Guetta opened Euro 2016
David Guetta was part of the opening ceremony for Euro 2016, he appeared on a stage in the middle of the pitch at Stade de France.
He played his remix of 'I Gotta Feeling' by The Black Eyed Peas, followed by 'Play Hard' and his hit 'Titanium' with Sia, before Zara Larsson joined him to finish the show performing their collab 'This One's for You'.
2016: David Guetta won a Billboard Award for Top dance/electronic artist
In 2016 David also won a Billboard Music Award for Top dance/electronic artist, beating The Chainsmokers, DJ Snake, Major Lazer and Zedd.
2017: David Guetta wins an MTV Europe Music Award
The biggest song of the year for David Guetta in 2017 was '2U' with Justin Bieber. The song was a Top 5 hit for the pair, with two versions of the music video being released. One version featured Victoria's Secret models lip-syncing to the song, with the second version being unbranded.
In 2017, David also headlined the massive dance music festival Tomorrowland in Belgium and won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Electronic.
2020: David Guetta holds United at Home Covid relief gigs
Starting in 2020, David Guetta held a series of gigs to help raise money towards supporting those affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Starting out poolside at a hotel in downtown Miami, David Guetta attracted a huge amount of attention and raised millions of dollars.
His gigs were streamed live for fans to watch and some could even get 'involved' by joining a massive Zoom call.
After Miami, David then held another gig from the top of the Rockefeller Center in New York City, ending the year and bringing in 2021, at the Louvre museum in Paris.
David was voted once again as the Number 1 DJ in the world according to DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs.
2021: David Guetta released several big collabs
David Guetta has released a number of huge collabs over the years, but 2021 was known for some of the biggest. He released 'Bed' with Joel Corry and RAYE, 'Heartbreak Anthem' with Galantis and Little Mix, and 'Remember' with Becky Hill.
For the second time in a row (third time overall), David Guetta was voted as the Number 1 DJ in the world according to DJ Mag's Top 100 DJ.
2022: David Guetta was nominated for several BRIT Awards
David Guetta received BRIT Award nominations for 'Heartbreak Anthem' (Best International Song), and both 'Bed' and 'Remember' were nominated for Best British Single.
He also presented the Best Dance Act award to Becky Hill along with Pete Tong.
13: 'Crazy What Love Can Do' with Becky Hill and Ella Henderson (2022)
In March 2022, David Guetta teased a new track with Becky Hill and Ella Henderson. The track was titled 'Crazy What Love Can Do', and was released on 8th April of that year. The song's release also came alongside a 'mini movie' as the music video, starring David, Ella and Becky. The song hit the Number 5 spot in the UK chart, as well as Number 2 in the UK Dance Chart. In August 2024, it received 2x Platinum certification, selling more than 1,200k copies.
14: David Guetta and Bebe Rexha release 'I'm Good (Blue)' (2022)
Years after the song was recorded, after it went viral on TikTok, David Guetta and Bebe Rexha released 'I'm Good (Blue)', which became a massive hit, sampling the 90s classic 'Blue' by Eiffel 65. In January 2023, the song was nominated for a BRIT Award for International Song of The Year, losing out to Beyoncé for 'Break My Soul'.
Given the song's insane popularity on TikTok, it's no surprise the bop hit the Number 1 spots on both the UK Singles and Dance charts.
2023: Producer of the Year at the BRIT Awards 2023
David won Producer of the Year at the 2023 BRIT Awards in February! In his acceptance speech, he praised British music: "I am very honoured to receive Producer of the Year. I have always felt a strong connection to British music and culture. The UK music scene is full of world class artists and producers so to be recognised like this means a lot to me. Thank you so much!"
David also performed at the ceremony, sharing the stage with Becky Hill, Ella Henderson and Sam Ryder as they performed a medley made up of 'Remember', 'Crazy What Love Can Do' and 'I'm Good (Blue)'.
2024: The Monolith
In March 2024, David Guetta unveiled something on YouTube he called The Monolith. The Monolith was an hour-long set performed in front of a monolith which was situated in the Saudi Arabian desert.
You can hear David Guetta's hits on Forth 1.
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