Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer. Since 2001, he has hosted A State of Trance (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40 million listeners in 84 countries on over 100 FM radio stations. According to the website DJs and Festivals, "the radio show propelled him to stardom and helped cultivate an interest in trance music around the world". van Buuren has won a number of accolades. He has been ranked the number one DJ by DJ Mag a record of five times, four years in a row. He was ranked fifth on the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs list in 2022, as well as fourth in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020, and third in 2017. In 2014, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for his single "This Is What It Feels Like" featuring Trevor Guthrie, which makes him the fourth trance artist ever to receive a Grammy Award nomination. In the United States, he holds the record for most entries, twenty-one, on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Personal life Armin van Buuren was born in Leiden, on 25 December 1976, and grew up in Koudekerk aan den Rijn. He was inspired by French electronic music composer Jean-Michel Jarre and Dutch DJ and Remixer Ben Liebrand. Van Buuren graduated from the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden in 1995, and studied law at Leiden University. He began working as a DJ in Club Nexus in 1996, playing multiple sets a week, most of which lasted six or more hours. In 1999, he met Dave Lewis who introduced him as a DJ in England and the United States. As his musical career began to take off, he put his law degree on hold, but he did return to graduate from law school in 2003. On 18 September 2009, van Buuren married Erika van Thiel. Their daughter Fenna was born in July 2011. van Buuren announced just hours before he was due to headline the main stage at Tomorrowland (27 July 2013) that his wife had given birth to a son, Remy. On 16 February 2018, van Buuren explored his family history in an episode of the TV series Verborgen verleden, the Dutch version of the UK series Who Do You Think You Are?. Music career 1996–1999: Early career and success In 1996,