On March 3, 2016, dance music icon, Tiësto, was awarded the Edison Pop Oeuvre Lifetime Achievement Award on a special broadcast of RTL Late Night. Presented since 1960, the annual Dutch prize is one of the oldest music awards in the world and celebrates outstanding achievements within the industry.

The award was handed to him by young superstar, Martin Garrix, who gave a short speech explaining how Tiësto has been a personal inspiration for him and how he has helped pave the way for many others. In addition to this, the award was presented with short video messages from Hardwell, Afrojack, Quintino andOliver Heldens.

Past winners include everyone from Stevie Wonder to David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, Quincy Jones, Phil Collins, Paul Simon, U2 and more.

While the award transcends genre, this marked the first year the award has ever been presented to a dance music artist. The jury responsible for determining the winner stated that they chose Tiësto for his innovative work in changing dance music’s landscape as well as his ability to constantly challenge himself and the genre. They went on to cite that he was the first Dutch DJ to be named the most popular DJ in the world three times in a row, the first DJ to perform for the Olympic Games, the first DJ to give a solo show in a stadium and his ability to inspire a new generation of young producers with his music. *Photo Credit: William Rutten

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