Ben Liebrand

Ben Liebrand (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbɛn ˈli.brɑnt]) (born 27 September 1960 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands) is a dance music DJ. He has produced artists such as Forrest and MC Miker G & DJ Sven and remixed tracks by artists such as Michael Jackson, Salt N Pepa, Sting, TLC, Fun Fun, Tavares, Bill Withers, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, George Aaron, Rick Astley, SWV and Phil Collins. He has also charted under his own name, an example of which was Ben Liebrand's version of "Eve of the War."

His radio show "In The Mix" was the first non-stop mixed show that aired on Dutch National Radio in 1983. Early listeners were Armin van Buuren and Tiësto, who have cited Liebrand as their main reason for entering the music business. "In The Mix" also spawned an annual yearmix with 100+ tracks called "The Grandmix." The first series of Grandmixes aired from 1983 to 1992 and later versions from 1999 on are also released on CD.

Liebrand began his DJ-ing career in 1976 at the age of 16 with his mobile set-up, "The B. Liebrand Audio Studio", playing parties around his hometown of Nijmegen. Two years later, when he became old enough to frequent nightclubs, he moved from mobile discos to a nightclub residency, playing in "Juicy Lucy" nightclub (1978–1979). At this point, he was still letting one record play into another without beatmixing; however in 1979, he began a residency at "The Kwien" (pronounced 'The Queen') nightclub (1979–1980). During this time, Liebrand learned the art of mixing from Kwien resident Huib Luiten.

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