Theresa "Tracy" Young, is an American

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

DJ, producer,

remixer A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

, and owner of Ferosh Records. Young has been credited in over 60 No. 1 ''Billboard'' Dance hits, and has collaborated on remixes with over 100 artists, including 14 for

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. Her " I Rise" (Tracy Young Pride Intro Radio Remix) for Madonna received a nomination at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Ali ...

, in the Best Remixed Recording category, and won. This marked the first time a female producer had been nominated and won in this category.

Biography

Young attended T.C. Williams High School in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. In 1989, at 19, Young DJed at frat parties at

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and later was the resident DJ at the Hill Haven Nightclub in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Young graduated from the

with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Speech Communication Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, s ...

Career

Young began her professional radio career as an intern at the urban-leaning rhythmic-formatted radio station WPGC 95.5FM in Washington D.C. while she was still attending the University of Maryland. She became an on-air mix show deejay for several of the station's highly rated shows. She was soon promoted to Assistant Music Director and then became the stations Music Director where she remained for a year and a half before accepting a new position at

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. The new position resulted in her relocating to

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 ...

, a city with a thriving club music scene. Shortly after her move, Young met club impresario Ingrid Casares who along with Chris Paciello opened ''Liquid'' nightclub in

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...

. Young landed the permanent deejay residency position at ''Liquid'' and during her residency she served as the deejay for many events hosted by celebrities including Sean Puffy Combs,

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has p ...

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

and many others. It was during her time at ''Liquid,'' where Young first met

. She was able to land a prominent gig to deejay a party celebrating the launch of Madonna's film ''

The Next Best Thing ''The Next Best Thing'' is a 2000 American comedy drama film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Madonna, Rupert Everett, and Benjamin Bratt. It follows a woman who has a one-night-stand with her gay best friend, which results in her givin ...

''. Their friendship and professional relationship blossomed and Young was asked to deejay Madonna's and

Guy Ritchie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter known primarily for British comedy gangster films and large-scale action-adventure films. Ritchie left school at the age of 15, and worked in e ...

's wedding in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Throughout her career as a professional DJ, Young has served as a deejay for many events including The Emmy Awards, the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

's 2011 Aphrodite: Les Folies North American tour, and

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

' 21st birthday. In 2003, Young launched her own record label, Ferosh Records and she also began serving as executive producer of the annual

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

party called ''Genesis.'' She actively supports philanthropic causes and has held fundraising campaigns for various

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

charities such as

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

GMHC The GMHC (formerly Gay Men's Health Crisis) is a New York City–based Nonprofit organization, non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization whose mission statement is to "end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives ...

Elton John AIDS Foundation The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care and s ...

and The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. In addition, Young has been a featured talent for Pride Festivals all around the world since 1990. Young has appeared in numerous television programs such as '' MTV's House of Style,''

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's ''

Rap City ''Rap City'', also known as ''Rap City: Tha Basement'' from 1999 to 2005, is a music video television program block that originally aired on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network from August 11, 1989, to November 8, 2008. The program ...

'', E!'s '' Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami'',

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

's ''

The Real Housewives of Atlanta ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta'', abbreviated ''RHOA'', is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on October 7, 2008. Developed as the third installment of '' The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired sixteen season ...

'', ''

The Real Housewives of Miami ''The Real Housewives of Miami'', abbreviated ''RHOM'', is an American reality television series broadcast on Bravo with distribution rights to Peacock. The ''Miami'' series is the seventh installment of '' The Real Housewives'' franchise, and ...

'' and

LOGO A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

reality-television series, '' The A-List: New York''. In 2017, Young was tapped to remix the campaign song for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

's run for the Presidency of the United States Of America. The song titled "Stronger Together" features recording artist

Jessica Sanchez Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez (born August 4, 1995) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence following her finish as the runner-up on the eleventh season of ''American Idol''. Early life Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez was born in Chula ...

. Young's career in the music industry and her ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Dance Club Songs 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 history has been featured in the following press: ''DJ Times'', ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'', ''Billboard Magazine'', ''LOGO'', and ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Original Singles

Compilation Appearances

Remixes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Tracy 1970 births Living people American remixers American dance musicians American radio personalities Record producers from Virginia American television personalities American women television personalities American club DJs Grammy Award winners American electronic dance music DJs American lesbian musicians LGBTQ people from Virginia Musicians from Charlottesville, Virginia 21st-century American women musicians American women record producers American women in electronic music T. C. Williams High School alumni 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people