As an internationally respected artist/producer/remixer/DJ, David Guetta’s track record has been impeccable for nearly two decades. Now, in mid-2009, his career is reaching new peaks: “When Love Takes Over” featuring the lead vocal of multi-platinum pop-R&B songstress Kelly Rowland, is taking off as a world-wide smash, hitting #1 spot here in the U.K singles chart.
David's also the track producer of Black Eyed Peas’ rousing new #1 US single, “I Gotta Feeling,” in whose video clip he makes a cameo appearance. And his upcoming fourth studio album, One Love, scheduled for August 24th release on Virgin Records, is an ambitious, ingeniously crafted album that sets forth nothing less than a bold and beautiful manifesto for the global pop and dance domination.
“Making this record with so many talented artists was such an amazing experience and the end result is an album infused with all the best flavors of contemporary pop music that will appeal to such a broad audience both on and off the dancefloor,” noted Guetta.
Significantly, it was Guetta’s own defining and assured musical viewpoint as a DJ and producer that attracted the A-listers who make One Love one of 2009’s most diverse and star-studded album projects. Kelly Rowland, for example, moved to tears at first hearing the instrumental work-in-progress that became “When Love Takes Over” on the dance floor at Guetta’s famed F*** Me I’m Famous party in Cannes, greeted him in the DJ booth, and was later given the track to write to. will.i.am, similarly, had first approached Guetta to contribute to a club-inspired album planned by Black Eyed Peas (the just-released Energy Never Dies) – and their collaboration snowballed to include two tracks on One Love: the out-of-control “I Wanna Go Crazy,” and “On the Dancefloor,” joined by apl.de.ap, a fresh evocation of the hip-hop/house fusions of the late 1980s.
Throughout the agenda-setting One Love, Guetta serves up a body-rocking, all-embracing blend of hip-hop, soul and electro – an audacious fusion that's been sorely missed ever since rap and dance audiences became polarized at the turn of the 1990s. With a global following of nearly five million celebrants at over 200 DJ performances just last year attesting to his musical authority, it’s no wonder that Guetta has emerged as a catalyst and a curator of an exciting new musical hybrid, his magical producer’s touch bringing out the best in all his collaborators -- even as accomplished a hook-meister as Akon, who sings the album track “Sexy Bitch.”
A rare dance album spotlighting its vocalists as well as its beats -- each singer cast flawlessly in tracks tailored to their individual qualities -- every one of One Love’s vocal collaborations is marked by arresting hooks, inventive musical development, and compelling humanistic messages. Notable among the guests who leave true personal stamps on each song is Chris Willis, the longtime lead vocal collaborator with whom Guetta has shared no less than seven top 10 chartings around Europe, who lends his larger-than-life, testifying vocals to the funky house of “Gettin' Over” and “Sound of Letting Go.” Recent Grammy winner Estelle imbues the title track with a rich, luminous emotional grace; and Kelly Rowland turns in another vibrant and melodic lead vocal in “It's the Way You Love Me” worthy of the most stirring of Donna Summer’s dance anthems.
Breakout stars Kid Cudi (“Memory”) and Novel (“Missing You Anymore”) also share surprisingly personal stories in a dance format; and, rounding out an album full of high points, Wynter, fresh off a worldwide hit with Flo Rida (“Sugar”), stars in the outrageous “Toy Friend;” and Makeba delivers “If We Ever,” a unique electronic confessional ballad.
The set-up single for One Love is in launch mode all over the world, ensuring that the album will be front-of-mind globally at its late-summer release: “When Love Takes Over” is currently #1 on the Billboard Club Chart and is now crossing over to top 40 radio in major markets, destined to become a runaway summer smash. BBC’s Radio 1 A-listed the song in advance of its official release in the U.K. Prior to official weekly chart publication, “When Love Takes Over” shot immediately to No. 1 in British and French iTunes single-song downloads.
David Guetta’s name is synonymous with the world’s greatest house and dance music, and with the parties that bring that music to life. Since releasing his first pioneering single “Up 1 Way” in his native Paris, France in 1992, David Guetta has sold over 2 million albums worldwide and over 3.2 million singles. He has been France’s No. 1 club DJ for a decade, and was named the world’s No. 1 House DJ in 2008. Attesting to his global appeal, Guetta is also a bona-fide YouTube star, holding the record for “most watched” of any artist in the electronic music genre with over 32 million views of his 2007 classic “Love Is Gone”.
In Europe, Guetta has previously released three chart-topping albums (Just a Little More Love, 2002; Guetta Blaster, 2004; Pop Life, 2007). Guetta and his wife Cathy are also famed for staging the mega-sized dance parties, F*** Me I’m Famous, for tens of thousands of house, electro, and dance-loving fans from Ibiza to Miami, New York, London, Barcelona and Paris. They have released four best-selling compilation packages of the same name.
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