Darude

Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen, known by the stage name Darude, is a Finnish DJ and electronic music producer. He is from Eura in Satakunta and resides in Turku.

His music career began as a hobby in high school, where he was already composing music using tracker software on his personal computer. His interest in music production quickly grew, leading him to adopt more advanced production techniques. His alias originated at a party at a classmate’s house, where he repeatedly played the track Rude Boy and was nicknamed “Rude Boy”. The nickname later evolved into “Da Rude”, ultimately inspiring the name “Darude”.

He continued producing music during his technical studies, started sending demos to radio stations in 1997, and made his music available for download on MP3.com. In 1999, he handed a demo of “Sandstorm” to his producer, Js16 (Jaakko Salovaara). Darude signed to JS16’s label 16 Inch Records, and soon after, “Sandstorm” was released as a single.

The track became a worldwide hit, launching Darude onto the international stage. “Sandstorm” reached number one in Finland, went platinum, and topped the Finnish dance chart for seventeen consecutive weeks. It also peaked at number three on the UK chart, making it the first release by a Finnish artist to achieve that result. It sold over 2 million copies worldwide and became the best-selling 12-inch of 2000.

Soon after, Darude released his debut album, Before the Storm, produced by Js16 and including two of his remixes. The album sold 800,000 copies worldwide, reached number one on the Finnish charts, and earned Darude three Finnish Grammys. The second single, “Feel the Beat”, followed close to the success of “Sandstorm”, reaching number five in the UK. Subsequent releases, “Out of Control” and its remix version “Out of Control (Back for More)” featuring singer Tammie Marie, did not achieve the same success.

Darude embarked on a world tour in 2001, alongside the release of Before the Storm: Australian Tour Edition. A special edition of the album featuring a collection of remixes was released in 2002. His second album, Rush, came out in 2003 with the singles “Music” and “Next to You”. The album reached number four on Finland’s weekly sales chart, and “Next to You” was frequently included in DJ mixes.

After that, Darude shared the singles “Tell Me” and “My Game” from his new album Label This! on his official MySpace page. He also owns the EnMass Music label and represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019.

Globally recognized for his anthemic trance style, Darude has remained very active as a live performer, regularly playing shows, particularly in the United States and Eastern Europe.