BREAKING: Hardwell announces retirement from live shows

Few names in the electronic scene are more famous than that of Hardwell. The Dutch producer and DJ has dominated the world of dance music since first breaking through with his Tiësto collaboration ‘Zero 76′, forming his own label, releasing huge anthems like ‘Apollo’ and ‘Spaceman’, and becoming the #1 DJ in the world, winning the 2013 and 2014 DJ Mag polls.

But after a whirlwind decade, the Dutch superstar, who also released a docu-movie in the form of ‘I AM Hardwell’, has shocked the world, today announcing his retirement from live shows indefinitely, in a similar way to how Avicii did in 2016. Though he will still perform at ADE in October, Hardwell states that he will continue to produce music, but that his days of DJ’ing to audiences are over, adding:

“Being Hardwell 24/7 leaves too little energy, love, creativity and attention for my life as a normal person to do so. This is why I have decided to clear my schedule indefinitely to be completely liberated from targets, interviews, deadlines, release dates, etc. I’ve always dealt with all the pressure that comes with the heavy touring schedule, but for now, it felt too much, like a never ending rollercoaster ride. I always try to give myself 200% and in order to keep doing that, and feeding my creativity, I need some time off to be me, the person behind the artist and reflect on everything that happened the last few years. That means my touring schedule has ended yesterday on Ibiza on September 6th, 2018 with a bang.”

The full statement can be found below on Hardwell’s Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnbQBkwHCLK/?hl=en&taken-by=hardwell