From: France
DJ style: All forms of dance music.
Best known for: Huge hits, constant touring, Ibiza residencies and much more.
David Guetta has been setting records for years, and 2026 brings yet another: the Frenchman has pulled clear of five-time winners Martin Garrix and Armin van Buuren to become the first artist to top the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll six times. “Wow. Six times?” he says from his cliffside studio in Ibiza when he hears the news. “That’s pretty serious. I’m very honoured.”
It caps another remarkable year in which the numbers around Guetta have become increasingly hard to comprehend. He’s racked up another five billion streams, and become the first electronic artist to land 22 number ones on the US Dance Airplay chart. Guetta is the most-streamed DJ on Spotify (and consistently in the top 10 of the world’s most listened to artists on the platform) — his hit ‘Gone Gone Gone’ with Teddy Swims and Tones and I passed 350 million streams this year alone.
In terms of other big releases, he dropped the official FIFA World Cup 2026 anthem alongside Andrea Bocelli, EJAE and Megan Thee Stallion, more music with Italian producer Hypaton (real name Giorgio Ortenzi), who was hand-picked by David after going viral and who he now shares 580 millions streams with, and the anthemic ‘Save Me Tonight’ in collaboration with American superstar Jennifer Lopez.
“It’s the first time I didn’t have a summer pop hit, but it was still the biggest summer I’ve ever had,” he says, adding that his flagship Ibiza residencies — Galactic Circus at [UNVRS] and F*** ME I’M FAMOUS! at Ushuaïa — sold out quicker than ever. It’s something he’s very proud of in the age of AI when “everything can be faked, but the one thing you cannot fake is selling tickets”. The success speaks to the fact that his brand of accessible, emotional, sing-along dance music is now firmly part of the mainstream cultural landscape.
That’s not to say the man himself has fully abandoned his roots. This year he launched Men Machine, a new project with German DJ/producer Marten Hørger that draws from ’90s electroclash, new wave, synth-pop and techno; he continued releasing on Future Rave, the brand he shares with DJ/producer MORTEN, releasing ‘La Révolution’ and ‘Locked In’ with the Dane, the latter featuring big US rapper Trippie Redd. He also put out ‘Sad Girls’ with Bebe Rexha and tracks with Illenium, Afrojack and Sia, HUGEL and more. He completed several solo remixes and others with ARTBAT and Hypaton, and has been working over the summer with Brazilian DJ Volkoder, Argy, young Frenchman Jast and others.
Collaboration evidently continues to be a cornerstone of his career because of what it teaches him. “The worst thing that can happen to a producer is to think you know it all,” he says, adding that working across so many different styles and taking plenty of inspiration from sessions with younger artists means he never loses motivation.
Guetta has also been paying close attention to what’s been happening elsewhere in the scene, name-checking DJs like CHRIS STASSY, Prospa and Cloonee, who, he says, are putting on bigger, bolder, brighter shows that point to a broader cultural shift away from underground music’s old rules. “We went from ‘we are too cool to smile, we are dark, we are mysterious’ to the opposite,” he says. “What I see is happiness. People going mental, dancing like there’s no tomorrow. It feels more genuine to me, and I love it.”
Guetta has played an undeniable role in reshaping the global pop landscape and establishing dance music as one of its dominant forces. Last summer’s sold-out Stade de France shows, featuring guest appearances from Armin van Buuren, Afrojack, Black Coffee, Jennifer Lopez, Akon, Bebe Rexha and Black Eyed Peas, proved Guetta operates on a scale historically reserved for rock & roll behemoths. He shifted over 240,000 tickets across those three historic sold-out shows in Paris, while also taking his gigantic Monolith show to Red Rocks, Coachella and various other huge arenas and stadiums around Europe — all while holding down his two Ibiza residencies. In the summer of 2027 he’ll help the O2 in London celebrate its 20th anniversary by bringing his live spectacle to the huge London venue.
That sort of epic, communal live experience is something he will double down on in future, driven by the belief that human connection is becoming more valuable precisely because of how much AI and social media now shape people’s lives. “Social media was supposed to connect people, but I think it is making people very lonely. And I think the value of real human connection is gonna be higher than ever,” he says.
Six wins in and Guetta remains adamant his job is simple. “My role is to try to make people happy and forget their problems,” he smiles. “This is an important role, and I take it very seriously.”
