Calvin Harris: Everything you need to know about the 'Blessings' DJ
Calvin Harris ISN'T his real name!
Despite embracing fatherhood, welcoming his baby boy Micah in 2025, Calvin Harris has been hard at work. Following a busy 2025, releasing 'Ocean', and 'Blessings', as well as performing at Hits Radio Live Birmingham, Calvin has released a new collab with rock band Kasabian called 'Release The Pressure'.
However, many years ago Calvin wasn't known for his chart-topping music. How much do you know about the Scottish DJ/producer, who has had an epic career, releasing seven albums, and shows no signs of slowing down?
Who is Calvin Harris?
Calvin Harris is a Scottish DJ who rose to fame after posting his songs on MySpace. He signed a record deal in 2006 and has since topped the charts several times with his incredible hits. Some of his biggest songs include 'We Found Love' with Rihanna, 'Sweet Nothing' with Florence Welch, 'Blame' with John Newman, 'One Kiss' with Dua Lipa, and 'Miracle' with Ellie Goulding.
Despite being super successful now, it wasn't always that way for the Scottish DJ, who started his music career by creating and recording music in his bedroom as a teenager. It wasn't until his debut album 'I Created Disco', released in 2007, that he began to enjoy real success.
After Calvin's second album 'Ready For The Weekend' debuted at Number 1 in 2009, he started to become a real music contender, and by the time he released his third album '18 Months' in 2012, he'd established himself as one of the biggest names in electronic music.
What is his real name?
Calvin Harris wasn’t born Calvin Harris. That’s right — the mastermind DJ was born with the real name of Adam Richard Wiles. Despite releasing his music under his stage name, you will find that Calvin's real name is used in writing credits for his music.
Fans first realised Calvin Harris wasn’t the DJ’s real name when he was dating Taylor Swift back in 2016. When giving a speech at an award ceremony, Taylor thanked her ‘boyfriend Adam’, prompting lots of confused faces and Google searches for ‘Calvin Harris real name’!
Is the DJ on tour?
Calvin Harris is not currently on tour, however he has announced a several UK gigs for 2026 including two gigs in Glasgow. The gigs will see him return to Scotland's national stadium, Hampden Park, for just two nights, the first time since 2022. He will also be performing at Creamfields and Belfast, in August, and Isle of Wight Festival.
Hits Radio Live Birmingham 2025
Although he isn't on tour at the moment, Calvin did perform at Hits Radio Live Birmingham in November 2025. The DJ took the energy in the arena to the next level playing his hits including 'Blame' featuring John Newman.
He also joined Sam Thompson backstage where Sam gave him one of his famous hugs, not once, but twice!
Calvin's album '96 Months'
In August 2024, Calvin Harris dropped a new album called '96 Months', filled with bangers from the previous eight years. The album has now been certified Gold. On its release, he simply posted an Instagram Story with a link to listen to the album online...
Find out more about all of Calvin Harris' albums, from 'I Created Disco' up to '96 Months'.
Does Calvin write his own songs?
Yes, Calvin does write his own songs, in August 2022 he responded to a 'fan' who asked how he made his money. Calvin had the perfect response saying: 'Because I write, produce, mix, play every instrument and sometimes vocal. We found love, Summer, Feel so close for example 100% publishing because I did everything. Only reason I got Frank Ocean feature was he told me we found love was one of his favorite songs. I wrote that song'. (sic)
Does he like karaoke?
Surprising many of us, in an interview, Calvin revealed that he does like karaoke and his 'go to' karaoke song is Shania Twain's 'Man! I Feel Like A Woman'. The DJ told us in February 2024 that he did karaoke a couple of years ago, explaining: "The way that I delivered it is a bit different to the original. You know, it's a bit more like (in a gruff voice)...
"'Hey, hey man, I feel like...,' it’s all that. So I enjoy it, it's feels like I get something out of my system."
Does he sing?
The DJ is now known for his superstar collaborations, however for those wondering ‘can Calvin Harris sing?’ The answer is a big fat yes! Calvin Harris provided the vocals for all the tracks on his debut album ‘I Created Disco’ which included ‘Acceptable in the 80s’ and 'The Girls’. He also sings on his 2009 songs ‘Ready For The Weekend’, ‘I’m Not Alone’ and ‘You Used To Hold Me’.
Calvin Harris’ third album ’18 months’ saw appearances from superstar vocalists such as Kelis on ‘Bounce’, Ne-Yo on ‘Let’s Go’ and Florence Welch on ‘Sweet Nothing’. However Calvin still voices one of the album’s stand out tracks ‘Feel So Close’. Calvin also provided the vocals on 2014’s Number 1 hit ‘Summer’ and 2016’s ‘My Way’.
In 2025 he released 'Smoke The Pain Away', which features his vocals. You can read all about the songs that Calvin sings on here.
Is he married?
Calvin is married to Vick Hope. Vick was spotted sporting a rather gorgeous diamond ring on her engagement finger, with them appearing pretty loved up out and about in London in early 2022.
In September 2023 it was reported by many publications that the pair had married in a private ceremony. And in February 2024, the pair appeared on the Grammys' red carpet together, with Calvin taking to Instagram captioning his photo: 'Grammy night with the wife!'.
The couple also appeared at The BRIT Awards in March 2024, sitting at a table together. Calvin performed his hit 'Miracle' at the event, and won Dance Act.
Then at the BRIT Awards in 2025 they appeared together on the red carpet.
Does Calvin have any children?
Yes, he has a baby son called Micah, with his wife Vick. Micah was born on 20th July 2025. Sharing the news with fans a couple of weeks after his arrival, Calvin wrote on Instagram: '20th of July our boy arrived. Micah is here! My wife is a superhero and I am in complete awe of her primal wisdom! Just so grateful. We love you so much Micah ❤️❤️❤️'. (sic)
When is his birthday?
Calvin Harris was born on 17th January 1984! The hunk is aged 42-years-old and it's fair to say he looks like a totally different person to when he first emerged on the music scene aged 23!
Where is he from?
The superstar DJ grew up in Dumfries, Scotland with his family. Calvin has two older siblings — an older brother called Edward, and an older sister called Sophie.
He later moved to London to try and make in the music business. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for him that time and he returned to his hometown, which was when he made his first record signing.
How tall is he?
Calvin Harris is very tall at 6ft 5 3/4 in. His shoe size is large too — a UK size 12.5!
What did he do before becoming a DJ?
Before Calvin Harris was famous, he used to work in a supermarket stacking shelves, purely so that he could get enough money to buy music production equipment. He also once had a job in a fish factory and he had ambitions to become a professional footballer.
When did he first release music?
Calvin Harris started making music when he was just 13 or 14-years-old, but he burst onto the music scene in 2007 with his debut album, 'I Created Disco', which he worked on after moving back home to Dumfries from London. His first album was all made using an Amiga 500+ - if you don't know what one of those is, here's what it looks like!
Calvin's journey to fame:
Among many other things, Calvin was eventually discovered through now-defunct social media site MySpace. He recorded his debut album ‘I Created Disco’ in his bedroom, after uploading a number of the tracks to MySpace.
He was scouted by a record company and signed before officially releasing the album which included hits ‘Acceptable in the 80s’ and ‘The Girls’ in 2007. His second album, 2009’s ‘Ready For The Weekend’, charted at Number 1 in the UK Charts and spawned hits ‘You Used To Hold Me’ and ‘I’m Not Alone’.
The 2012 release '18 Months’ saw Calvin Harris' star status continue to rise as he recruited an impressive list of guest vocalists such as the MASSIVE ‘I Need Your Love’ with Ellie Goulding, ‘We Found Love’ with Rihanna, as well as Tinie Tempah and Dizzee Rascal also contributing.
The collabs kept coming on 2014’s ‘Motion’ and ‘Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1’ was the soundtrack to Summer 2017 with tracks, including ‘Slide’ which Frank Ocean emerged from hibernation to feature on.
Who has Calvin Harris worked with?
Calvin has worked with many huge names over the years including Kylie Minogue, Rita Ora, The Weeknd, Dua Lipa and Ellie Goulding. In 2026, he released a song with Kasabian called 'Release The Pressure'. Find out more about his collaborations, as well as songs that Calvin has written for other artists.
Where does he get inspiration for his music?
The DJ says some of his biggest inspirations include the likes of Fatboy Slim, Outkast, the Chemical Brothers and even The Isley Brothers! However, back when he was a teenager he also saw Nirvana, known in the 90s for their hits such as 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and 'Heart-Shaped Box', as a huge influence.
Can he play any musical instruments?
Calvin Harris is a talented musician as shown in a video he uploaded in 2017 with the making of his song 'Slide', where he can be seen playing the piano. Unfortunately in preparation for the release of his collab with The Weeknd, he has deleted all of his previous tweets.
Did 'Ready For The Weekend' get lost?
A number of sources state that while Calvin Harris was writing his second album 'Ready for the Weekend', his laptop — with some of the album — was 'lost' at Heathrow Airport. However, the DJ apparently said that to buy himself a bit of extra time! It was worth the wait though as the album went to Number 1 in the UK.
What's his record label called?
Calvin Harris created his own record label in 2010 called Fly Eye Records. As you would expect, many acts signed to the label are Electronic Dance Music (EDM) acts. He has also released some of his own music through it including his collaboration with Kelis, 'Bounce'.
Which World Record does Calvin hold?
Calvin Harris broke a record previously held by Michael Jackson for the most UK Top 10 hits from a studio album. His album '18 Months' had nine Top 10 hits including 'Sweet Nothing' with Florence Welch, 'We Found Love' with Rihanna and 'I Need Your Love' with Ellie Goulding. The record was broken once again in 2017 with the release of '÷' from Ed Sheeran.
What's his net worth?
For three years in a row Calvin Harris topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid DJs in 2013, 2014 and 2015. All those MASSIVE chart hits have paid off for Calvin... literally. According to Forbes, Calvin Harris earned a cool $38.5 million in 2019 making him one of the richest DJs around.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, by 2022 Calvin Harris' net worth was around $300 million.
What football team does he support?
Calvin supports his hometown football team Queen of the South Football Club, which is based in Dumfries.
Calvin Harris on social media
You can follow Calvin on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), where his username is calvinharris. Calvin is also popular over on TikTok, where he has over 1.7 million followers. Calvin was among the top 10 most viewed UK artists on the platform in 2023. His TikTok username is also calvinharris.
You can hear Calvin Harris' songs on KISS.
Scroll through to see Calvin Harris' career journey:
2007 - 'I Created Disco'
Calvin's time stacking supermarket shelves to get enough money to buy music production equipment sure paid off in 2007 when he released his debut album 'I Created Disco' in June of that year. The album contained 14 tracks, which were all written, produced, and performed solely by Calvin. In order to promote the album, Calvin embarked on a UK tour, supporting electronic bands such as Faithless and Groove Armada.
'I Created Disco' contained tracks such as the now iconic 'Acceptable in the 80s' and 'The Girls'. Hitting the Number 1 spot in the UK Dance Albums Chart, it also made the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart. The album was later certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
2007 - Working with Kylie Minogue
After the release of his debut album, Calvin went on to play a whole host of live shows around the UK. That same year, his music caught the attention of none other than Australian superstar Kylie Minogue. This led him to co-writing, and producing, two songs for her 10th studio album 'X' - 'Heart Beat Rock' and 'In My Arms'. Calvin described the experience as "surreal" and "fun". The songs were both hits, with 'In My Arms' flying into the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. This would mark the beginning of a long list of huge collaborations for Calvin.
2008 - 'Dance Wiv Me' with Dizzee Rascal
In 2008, Calvin collaborated with rapper and songwriting extraordinaire Dizzee Rascal, producing his smash single hit 'Dance Wiv Me', which Calvin features on as he sings the hook. Speaking about the song, Calvin said: "I sent him the track, and he called me at 2 in the morning to say it was amazing, so I knew it was good." This proved to be true, with the track turning out to be a huge chart-topper, comfortably sitting at the Number 1 spot in the UK charts for four weeks. It went on to be certified Platinum by the BPI and became the UK's 12th highest-selling single of 2008.
'Dance Wiv Me' received a BRIT Award nomination for British Single, as well as a nomination for Best Contemporary Song at the Ivor Novello Awards. The pair later joined forces again in 2009 on Dizzee's track 'Holiday', which also debuted at the top spot on the UK charts.
2009 - 'Ready For The Weekend'
2009 saw the release of Calvin's second album 'Ready For The Weekend', which saw the birth of Calvin's iconic bejeweled sunglasses. The album included tracks such as 'I'm Not Alone', which hit the Number 1 on the UK charts, 'You Used to Hold Me' and the single 'Ready For The Weekend', which hit the top spot in the UK Dance Charts and Number 3 in the Singles Chart.
The album shot to the Number 1 spot in the UK, selling a whopping 36,308 copies in its first week alone. Within two months, the album was certified Gold by the BPI, and by the next month had sold almost 300,000 copies in the UK. The album's success even travelled overseas, reaching the Number 12 spot on the US Dance/Electronic Albums Chart, as well as being popular in countries such as Australia and France.
2010 - L.E.D. Festival Presents... Calvin Harris
In 2010, Calvin released a mix titled 'L.E.D. Festival Presents... Calvin Harris'. The electro mix contained collaborative work from other artists such as Eric Prydz and Afrojack. In the same year, Calvin also joined forces with Kylie Minogue once more, collaborating the track 'Too Much' which featured on her 11th album 'Aphrodite'. Calvin also received a nomination for the 2010 BRIT Awards, finding himself in the running for Best British Male.
2012 - '18 Months'
After touring as a support act for Rihanna on the European leg of her Loud Tour, Calvin began to release singles from his upcoming album, '18 Months'. These included some huge collaborations, providing us with massive hits such as 'Bounce' with Kelis, 'I Need Your Love' with Ellie Goulding, 'Let's Go' with Ne-Yo and 'We Found Love' with Rihanna. Other huge tracks from the album included 'Drinking from the Bottle' with Tinie Tempah and 'We'll Be Coming Back' with Example. All of the tunes proved hugely popular with fans, sending the album straight to the Number 1 spot on the UK charts.
During Calvin's set at Coachella 2012, the crowd went wild for a guest appearance from Rihanna as the pair performed their smash hit 'We Found Love'. Upon the song's release, it shot straight to the Number 1 spot in charts all around the globe. The tune is now certified 4× Platinum by BPI. The success of 'We Found Love' didn't end there, with the music video winning a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, as well as Video of the Year at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards, where Calvin also picked up the award for Best Electronic Video for 'Feel So Close'.
2013 - 'I Need Your Love' with Ellie Goulding
2013 saw the release of 'I Need Your Love', featuring Ellie Goulding, marking the seventh single released from '18 Months'. The track reached the Number 4 spot in the UK, whilst charting inside the Top 5 in various countries such as Australia, Austria, Finland and Sweden. The bop landing within the Top 5 in the UK saw Calvin make chart history by becoming the first artist to attain eight Top 10 singles from one studio album - a record previously set by Michael Jackson. The song went on to be nominated for various awards, including Best Collaboration and Best Song of the Summer at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
The music video caused quite the stir upon its release, as Calvin and Ellie, who appear in the video as a couple, shared a kiss. Fan began to speculate that the pair were dating, however Ellie later shut down the rumours.
2014 - 'Motion'
After the release of two singles, 'Under Control' and 'Summer', Calvin released his fourth album 'Motion'. 'Summer' debuted at Number 1 in the UK, becoming his sixth UK Number 1 single. Other huge tracks on the album include 'Blame' with John Newman, 'Outside' with Ellie Goulding and 'Under Control' with Hurts. As to be expected, 'Motion' flew to the Number 1 spot on the UK Dance Albums Chart and hitting Number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was certified Platinum by the BPI, after selling almost 40,000 copies in its first week. The second released single from the album, 'Summer', even became Spotify's most-streamed track of 2014, accumulating over 200 million streams, and received BRIT Award nominations for Best British Single and British Artist Video of the Year the following year.
In 2014, Calvin performed on the main stage of the world-renowned Coachella Festival. The set attracted the second largest crowd in Coachella's history and saw him play huge hits such as 'Feel So Close', 'We Found Love' and 'Bounce', along with various covers such as The Killers' 'When You Were Young'. That same year, Calvin played various other huge festivals, including the iTunes Festival in London and Lollapalooza.
2015 - Glamour UK's Man of the Year
What would a career highlights timeline be without a picture of Calvin and his Man of the Year award?! It seems 2015 was quite the year for the megastar, with him being crowned with the title at the Glamour UK Awards in June of that year.
Teaming up with London-based production trio Disciples in 2015, Calvin Harris released the single 'How Deep Is Your Love'. The track proved to be a chart-topping hit, flying to the Number 2 spot in the UK charts and becoming the DJ's 19th Top 10 entry in the chart. The bop even went to the Number 1 spot on the ARIA Charts, making it the first single of Calvin's to top the charts in Australia. The accompanying music video for the song features American supermodel Gigi Hadid, and has accumulated over 1.6 billion views on YouTube to date. The track, along with the video, even bagged Calvin various award nominations, including the 2016 BRIT Award for British Single of the Year and Best British Video.
2016 - 'This Is What You Came For'
In 2016, Calvin teamed up with Rihanna once more to bring us the iconic 'This Is What You Came For'. Cruising to the Number 2 spot in the UK, as well as the US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart, the track also peaked at Number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song topped charts worldwide, seeing success in countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany and New Zealand as well. 2016 also saw the release of other huge Calvin Harris hits such as 'My Way', 'Hype' with Dizzee Rascal and 'Olé' with John Newman.
2017 - Calvin Harris and Ed Sheeran go head to head
After the release of his fifth studio album 'Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1' in 2017, Calvin found himself locked in a close battle for Number 1 in the UK with superstar Ed Sheeran. Ed's album 'Divide' found itself slightly behind Calvin in the official download figures, however it picked up the pace and ended up beating Calvin to the top spot, with 'Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1' charting at Number 2.
2018 - 'Promises' and 'One Kiss'
2018 was a huge year for Calvin, with the release of two of the biggest bops of the summer! Teaming up with Dua Lipa, Calvin released the iconic 'One Kiss'. The track flew to the Number 1 spot in charts all around the world, spending an impressive eight weeks atop the UK charts. The undeniable hot summer aesthetic the song holds helped make it one of the biggest sounds of the 2018 summertime and has since been certified 6x Platinum. A year later', the pair were crowned the winners of the British Single of the Year category at the BRIT Awards 2019, where they also performed the popular track live.
Calvin also teamed up with Sam Smith, bringing us the funky track 'Promises'. The artists co-wrote the song, which hit the Number 1 spot. 2018 also saw Calvin top the Forbes' Highest-Paid DJs of 2018 list. This became his sixth consecutive year on the top of the list, having first reaching the spot in 2013.
2021 - His net worth is reported to be around $300 million
By 2021, Calvin Harris' net worth was reported to be around the $300 million mark, making him easily one of the highest paid DJs on the planet. After all FIVE of his albums ranked in the UK Top 10 after their release, with two of them hitting the Number 1 spot, it comes as no surprise that the superstar has a whole host of awards under his belt, including multiple BRITs, AMAs, a Billboard Music Award AND a Grammy. Also in 2021, he released the song 'By Your Side' featuring Tom Grennan.
2022 - Calvin Harris releases 'Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2'
In 2022, Calvin Harris released his long-awaited sixth album, 'Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2', which went to Number 5 in the UK The record included several collabs including 'Potion' with Dua Lipa, and other tracks featured the likes of Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, Jorja Smith, Snoop Dogg and plenty of others. Calvin also took up a residency in Ibiza over the summer of 2022.
2023 - Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding release 'Miracle'
Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding started teasing their third collab called 'Miracle' in January 2023 and finally released it on 10th March. The song saw the DJ return to his dance music roots with vocals from Ellie. It would later appear on Calvin's seventh album '96 Months', released in 2024. Calvin also released 'Desire', another collaboration with Sam Smith, in 2023 - with the music video filmed in a car park in Wigan. He also performed at Coachella once again in 2023, and Calvin announced his first ever immersive VR gig on Friday 13th January, which was available to watch on TikTok and PICO.
2024 - Calvin Harris won Dance Act
Calvin Harris received three BRIT Award nominations in January 2024, receiving nods in the categories of Song of the Year ('Miracle' with Ellie Goulding), Dance Act, and Pop Act. He took home the Dance Act gong, and performed 'Miracle' on the night with Ellie Goulding. Also in 2024, Calvin headlined TRNSMT Festival in July 2024.
2025 - Calvin Harris performed at Hits Radio Live Birmingham
Calvin wowed fans at Hits Radio Live Birmingham playing some of his biggest hits to 13,000 people. He turned up the energy in the arena as he played his huge hit 'Blame' featuring John Newman.
2026 - Summer 2026 gigs
Calvin has announced several gigs in the UK for Summer 2026, you can expect to see him in Glasgow, along with Isle of Wight Festival, Creamfields and in Belfast.
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