Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, music producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade as "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''

DJ Mag ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lati ...

'' named Kaskade fifty-first on its 2009 list of Top 100 DJs.

Early life

Born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Kaskade grew up in nearby Northbrook and attended Glenbrook North High School. As a teenager, he bought music at Gramaphone Records on Clark Street in Chicago. His brother, Rich Raddon, became an entrepreneur and film producer. Ryan attended

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

from 1989 to 1990, working on DJ skills in his dorm room. At age 19, Ryan Raddon went on a two-year full-time mission for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Next he went to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, eventually graduating with a degree in communications. While attending school, Kaskade and his close friend Jodi Call ran a record store in Salt Lake City called Mechanized.

Career

1995–2000: Early beginnings

In 1995, Raddon was a DJ at his first monthly Monday night party at a basement venue called Club Manhattan. He used the additional income to purchase studio essentials. In May 2000, Raddon moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

with his wife where he got a job working as an A&R assistant to John Elkins at Om Records, a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and electronic label. To Raddon's benefit, San Francisco was an emerging site of a new

deep house Deep house is a subgenre of house music that originated in the 1980s, initially fusing elements of Chicago house with the lush chords of 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. Its origins are attributed to the early recordings of Larry Heard ...

movement. While at OM records he continued DJing and producing music. Soon after, Raddon created his alter ego, Kaskade, which his wife worried would remind people of the dish detergent. He took his stage name from a nature book when he saw a picture of a waterfall and a co-worker agreed "cascade" was a good choice, but he changed the spelling. His name is not from the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

in the Pacific Northwest as fans sometimes cite. After mixing the third volume in the Sounds of Om series, Ryan was offered a three-album deal for Kaskade. He kicked off the deal with a full-length house debut, It's You, It's Me. Garnering critical acclaim, spawning several singles, and receiving a prestigious Dance Star nomination for Best New Artist, the release put Kaskade squarely on the dance music world's radar. Concentrating on his DJing skills, Kaskade started to experiment and develop his own sound.

2001–2006: Debut single

Kaskade released his first single "What I Say" on the label in 2001. '' In the Moment'' was Kaskade's first top 10 single with "Steppin' Out" reaching No. 5 on

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart and No. 6 on Dance Radio Airplay. The fourth single to be released from the album, "Everything", reached No. 1 on Billboard Magazine's Hot Dance Club Play. Kaskade's fourth solo album '' Love Mysterious'' was released in September 2006. The first single from the album, "Be Still", reached No. 4 on ''Billboard Magazines Hot Dance Club Play. The single features vocalist Sunsun, and includes remixes by Jay-J and Robbie Rivera. Follow up single "Stars Align" hit number No. 8 on "Billboard Magazine" Hot Dance Airplay chart and just missed the top ten, No. 11, on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. His fourth single released from "Love Mysterious", "Sorry", was his third consecutive top ten hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart, at No. 9. Dirty South provided a remix for "Sorry". The remix was nominated for a 2008 Grammy for Best Remixed Recording.

2006–2009: Ultra Records and deadmau5

In late 2006, Kaskade left OM Records and signed with Ultra Records. He worked with electronic musician

deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...

from

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

to produce tracks on Strobelite Seduction, including the first single (released as an EP) " Move for Me". The single became his fifth top ten hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart, reaching the number one position in its September 6, 2008 issue. It also gave Kaskade his first number one single on this chart. The dance single became a crossover hit and reached number 71 on the Canadian Hot 100 as of February 14, 2009. " I Remember", another collaboration with deadmau5, became his first UK hit, peaking inside the top 15 on the UK Singles Chart. The video-clip which accompanied "I Remember" was filmed in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. The single became his second chart topper on the Billboard dance chart. The follow-up single, "Angel on My Shoulder" with

Tamra Keenan Tamra Keenan is an Irish singer/songwriter. She has collaborated with many of the world's leading electronic dance music producers. Keenan also writes music for television and film, and writes lyrics for and collaborates with many other recordin ...

, was also a success on the dance chart, placing fifth on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart. His song "Step One Two" was the last single from the album, being released late in 2008.

2010–2015: Headlining UMF and Grammy nominations

In 2010, he had another number one Billboard Hot Dance Airplay track with "

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

", featuring Haley Gibby on vocals. In March 2012, Kaskade headlined at

Ultra Music Festival Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is an annual outdoor electronic music Music festival, festival that takes place in March in Miami, Florida. The festival was founded in 1999 by Russell Faibisch and Alex Omes. It was first held on Miami Beach, but bes ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

performing before Armin van Buuren on Sunday night. In April 2012, Kaskade played two weekends at

Coachella Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorad ...

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. Indio is approximately east of Los Angeles, east of Palm Springs, ...

. In June 2012, he was one of the headlining acts at Electric Daisy Carnival in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Also in June 2012, he started the "Freaks of Nature" summer tour in support of his released album Fire & Ice. In December 2013, Kaskade was nominated for two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s: the song "

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

" for Best Dance Recording and the album ''

'' for Best Dance/Electronica Album. In 2014, Kaskade was listed as the No. 8 highest paid DJ in the world according to Forbes, earning $17 million. In 2015, he appeared on BYUtv's Studio C. Additionally in 2015, he headlined Coachella alongside Drake for two weekends and, over the course of the two weekends, pulled in the two largest crowds the festival had ever seen.

2015–present: ''Automatic'', ''Kaskade Christmas'' and Kx5

On September 25, 2015, Kaskade released his album ''

Automatic Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 el ...

'' featuring collaborations with CID, Galantis,

John Dahlbäck John Dahlbäck (; born October 13, 1985) is a Swedish house music producer and DJ. He has released five albums and uses a variety of stage names. He has also collaborated with his cousin Jesper Dahlbäck in duo musical projects under the name Hugg ...

and Two Nations. On November 24, 2017, Kaskade released a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

-themed album titled "Kaskade Christmas". In 2022, Kaskade and

Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as deadmau5 (pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and disc jockey, DJ. His musical style mostly includes progressive house and electro house music, ...

announced a collaboration project named Kx5, marking the fourth time the producers have worked together. The first single from the project, "Escape", was released on March 11. On January 27, 2023, Deadmau5 announced the self-titled Kx5 album will be releasing March 17, 2023. On November 17, 2023, Kaskade released his second

-themed album titled "Kaskade Christmas Volume 2". On February 11, 2024, he performed at

Super Bowl LVIII Super Bowl LVIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. A rematch of Super Bowl LIV four years prior, the American Football Conference (AFC) 20 ...

in Las Vegas both before and during the game, making him the first DJ to perform throughout the Super Bowl. He replaced

Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( , ), is a Dutch DJ and record producer. He was voted "The Greatest DJ of All Time" by ''Mix (magazine), Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, h ...

, who dropped out after a family emergency.

Other projects

On May 30, 2010, Kaskade became a resident DJ for daytime pool parties at the Encore Beach Club in Las Vegas. The parties were entitled "Kaskade Sundays". On March 26, 2021, he had a virtual event happen in the popular video game

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game and game platform developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in seven distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: '' Fortnite Battle Roy ...

Personal life

Raddon has three children from his previous marriage. He is a member of

. His net worth was estimated to be US$50 million as of 2023, making him one of the Top 20 highest net worth DJ/producers in the world. On October 17, 2024, it was reported on

TMZ ''TMZ'' is an American entertainment-focused tabloid news organization owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested ...

that Raddon's wife Naomi filed for divorce, ending their relationship of 28 years.

Discography

* '' It's You, It's Me'' (2003) * '' In the Moment'' (2004) * '' The Calm'' (2006) * '' Love Mysterious'' (2006) * '' Strobelite Seduction'' (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * '' Fire & Ice'' (2011) * ''

'' (2013) * ''

'' (2015) * ''Kaskade Christmas'' (2017) * ''Kaskade Christmas II'' (2023) * '' Kx5'' (with

) (2023)

Official tours

* Urban Tour (2011) * Freaks of Nature Tour (2012) * United States Formula 1 Grand Prix Weekend (2012) * It's You, It's Me Redux Tour (2013) * Atmosphere Tour (2013) * Redux Tour 001(2014) * Automatic Tour (2015) * Redux 002 (2017) * Redux 003 (2019)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

, - , style="text-align:center;",

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , '' Fire & Ice'' , , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2", Best Dance/Electronica Album , , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , ''

'' , , , - , "

" , , style="text-align:center;", Best Dance Recording , , , - , style="text-align:center;",

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, , "Smile (Kaskade Edit)" , , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical , , , - , style="text-align:center;",

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , "Runaway (U & I) (Kaskade Remix)" , , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical , , , - , style="text-align:center;",

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , "Only (Kaskade x Lipless Remix)" , , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical , , , - , style="text-align:center;",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , ''Stargazing (Kaskade Remix)'' , , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1", Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical , ,

America's Best DJ Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaskade 1971 births 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians American male musicians Latter Day Saints from Illinois Brigham Young University alumni American club DJs Glenbrook North High School alumni Living people DJs from Chicago People from Northbrook, Illinois American progressive house musicians American remixers Ultra Records artists University of Utah alumni American electronic dance music DJs Monstercat artists