David Guetta has been crowned The World’s No.1 DJ as DJ Mag revealed the results of the 30th anniversary edition of their iconic Top 100 DJs poll. The French DJ and producer returns to the No.1 spot for the fourth time, more than a decade after he was first crowned The World’s No.1 DJ in 2011.
David Guetta reclaimed the crown from his great friend and mentee Martin Garrix, who topped the 2022 poll. With four wins each, the pair are now second only to Dutchman Armin van Buuren, who has claimed the No.1 spot five times.
Speaking about the win David Guetta said: “It’s incredible! It’s wonderful! It’s great because I feel like every time I’m on the top of the Top 100 DJs, it’s for a different reason. You know, the two previous times were probably thanks to Future Rave. This time is probably thanks to ‘I’m Good’ and those big crossover records. I love that I can express different feelings in different ways.”
A master of straddling scenes, Guetta’s decades-spanning reign as the king of dance music has seen him float between the radio-realms and the underground’s outskirts with relative ease. A DJ from age 14, he eventually established himself as a house producer with an alternative skew, amassing fans in his native Paris before garnering attention across the globe. Guetta achieved international success in 2001 with the release of the soaring dancefloor banger ‘Just A Little More Love’, and since then has masterfully juggled the role of pop megastar without losing touch with his roots. In the past 12 months alone, he’s collaborated with the likes of Britney Spears, Zara Larsson, Bebe Rexha, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray, Kim Petras, Ayra Starr & Lil Durk, Peso Pluma and Jung Kook plus Calvin Harris, Morten, Hypaton, Shouse, Louie Vega, Riton and and more — while simultaneously diving deeper into his Future Rave records and party concept, which hosted weekly sold-out shows at The World’s No.1 Club, Hï Ibiza. In 2023 he aslo became the 4th largest streaming artist worldwide on Spotify. The awards were announced during a broadcast event, hosted by BBC Radio One’s Arielle Free from The Standard, Ibiza. The show featured an iconic David Guetta performance from an Ibiza cliff top, alongside sets from four leading DJs from unique locations that spanned four continents: ALOK from The Edge in New York City, in association with FREE FIRE Future Star Winner, DESIREE, from Atlixco, Mexico Outstanding Contribution Winner, Carl Cox from Melbourne, Australia Nora En Pure from Bali, Indonesia
The awards show and full sets are available to watch now on DJ Mag’s YouTube channel. Chinese viewers can also enjoy the show on NetEase Cloud Music, the exclusive Top 100 DJs results partner for the China market.
Top 100 DJs and the Top 100 DJs Awards show is in support of UNICEF, raising funds to protect childhoods all around the world. Almost one in four children worldwide live in areas hit by conflict or disaster. UNICEF is there providing support, water, healthcare, education and child protection, making sure every child gets the chance to grow up happy, healthy and safe. During the Top 100 DJs Awards Show, viewers were invited to support UNICEF’s vital work by making donations at unicef.uk/djmag.
DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs — which will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year with a long-form documentary due to be released in the coming weeks — is the world’s biggest publicly-voted music poll, attracting 1.3 million votes from 237 different territories. It’s an annual celebration of just how important electronic music is to people across the world.
Moving through the 2023 rankings, non-movers Alok and Armin Van Buuren both held on to their places in the top five. The biggest switch-up came from South Korean DJ/producer Peggy Gou, who leaps 15 spots to ninth place, becoming the highest placing woman in the main poll since Lisa Lashes debuted at No.9 in the year 2000. Gou’s success also officially brings house music into the top 10, as she claims the award for The World’s No.1 House DJ from Vintage Culture. The Brazilian bass-turned-house head places right behind her at No.10, continuing his steady ascent of the past few years.
Reflecting the global trend, house and techno have performed well throughout the poll this year. Charlotte de Witte is voted The World’s No.1 Techno DJ for the fourth successive year, while Aussie tech-house phenomenon FISHER jumps 28 places to land at No.20. GORDO — the tech-house alias of former trap DJ Carnage — is right behind him at 21. Black Coffee, the biggest name in Afro-house, is up 14 to No.25, followed closely by three giants of techno: DJ icon Carl Cox — who received a special Outstanding Contribution award as the only DJ to be ranked in every single poll in the 30 year history of Top 100 DJs — and new kids on the block Reinier Zonneveld — himself up 22 places — and Amelie Lens.
UK sensation Fred again.. is this year’s Highest New Entry at 34, while NYC house dons The Martinez Brothers follow a huge summer in Ibiza with a rise of 40 places, earning them the Highest Climber award. Other house and techno heads across the poll include Deborah De Luca, Nora En Pure, Adam Beyer, Jamie Jones, Solomun, Kölsch, James Hype and Spanish psy-trance/hard techno champion Indira Paganotto, who debuts at No.97.
DJ Mag’s dedicated China voting app saw a huge number of votes this year, and continues to do its bit to ensure Chinese fans can have their say. Since launching, there’s been a notable increase in polling artists from across the Asian nation, and this year Aryue and KAKA both gain places, while Lizzy Wang joins the poll.
Other new entries include Dutchman Maddix, and Germany’s Le Shuuk, who’ve both been tipped by other Top 100 acts in recent years. And there are two re-entries this year: Mike Williams and Deorro.
View the full Top 100 DJs results at www.djmag.com/top100djs
Watch the Top 100 DJs Awards show sets at www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2jSqOyOjbU
