10 Things You Didn't Know About Tiesto

Say what you will about Tiesto, but one thing you can't deny is his legacy. He's paid his dues in the dance music scene, starting out in the mid-'90s as a DJ and producer. His rise since then has been humungous, overtaking the worlds of trance and now EDM as a whole, working with major label artists and extending his brand to Heineken, GUESS, and other major players in worlds outside of dance music. He's been ranked as #1 DJ three years straight, and has one of the most hectic touring schedules out of the current crop of EDM DJs on the planet. And he does all of this with a smile on his face.

We imagine there are superfans out there, but what does the regular joe really know about Tiesto outside of his smile and his tracks? Take a trip into Tiesto's career as DAD provides some interesting morsels of information about one of the EDM scene's most lucrative disc jockeys. Here are 10 things you didn't know about Tiesto.

The recent Acer ad is actually more about how the Acer Aspire P3 Ultrabook can help Tiesto's assistant more than Tiesto using it, but Tiesto seems to have enjoyed himself.

Depending on who you ask, they either turned the song down or it did not meet the deadline to make their album, but this Just Be track ended up showcasing Tiesto's darker side.

For the 2004 Summer Olympics, Tiesto performed during the "Parade of Nations" in the opening ceremony (before Bjork's performance of "Oceania"). Her created eight new tracks for the performance, as well as performing classics like "Adagio for Strings." These tracks were later released on his Parade of the Atheletes release.

During Tiesto's 90 minute set, the Dutch atheletes started dancing in front of the stage and had to be asked to move by Olympics officials.

Complete with decks that allow attendees to mix right alongside the lifesize model of Tiesto, this is a huge coup for dance music, and for the Dutch, who love their Tiesto.

Tiesto contributed music to DJ Hero and DJ Hero 2, in which he was also a playable character. He used in-game footage from DJ Hero 2 to make the video for "Speed Rail," the first video to do so.

In an effort to show that he's not a part of the stereotypical "raver on drugs with glowsticks" image, Tiesto made it a point to ban glowsticks from his Elements of Life tour. “Obviously, some people will always do it, but the image of the glow sticks at the parties was really bad, especially in Europe. In comedy movies, you would see a traditional raver, and they would always show that he’s on drugs with glow sticks in his hands and in his mouth. I think we deserve a better image than that.”

In 2009, Three 6 Mafia's "Feel It" featured produced from Tiesto and DJ Frank E. The video, which has been viewed over 45 million times, premiered on Tiesto's YouTube channel, and debuted at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100.