ATB

Progressive house and trance DJ and producer André Tanneberger works under the stage name ATB. His memorable singles, built around strong vocal hooks, moved beyond club play into mainstream pop radio, establishing him as a leading figure during trance’s commercial surge in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The 1998 debut single “9 PM (Till I Come)” remains his signature track—an uplifting yet restrained progressive house instrumental distinguished by its fluid, signature guitar line. That guitar tone became a defining element of ATB’s sound, yet his extensive catalog has also absorbed influences from ambient, drum’n’bass, and rock, as heard on expansive, multi-disc projects such as 2007’s Trilogy and 2017’s neXt, both of which include contributions from numerous guest vocalists and producers. Sustained popularity has placed him in various international DJ polls, while Poland has emerged as a particularly loyal market, with multiple studio albums and mix CDs attaining gold or platinum certification.

Born in 1973 in Freiberg, Germany, Tanneberger launched his career in the early 1990s by forming the Euro-house act Sequential One in 1993. The group enjoyed moderate European success, issuing three albums and more than a dozen singles before disbanding in 1999. After supplying remixes for artists including the Outhere Brothers, Technotronic, and Haddaway, Tanneberger adopted the ATB alias for his own original material. His breakthrough arrived with 1998’s “9 PM (Till I Come),” which reached number one in the U.K. and earned gold or platinum status in several additional countries. The 1999 follow-up “Don’t Stop,” stylistically akin to its predecessor, nearly matched that achievement, and the full-length debut Movin’ Melodies appeared later the same year. That album also contained the single “Killer,” a cover of the Seal and Adamski hit featuring Drew Williams on vocals; the track became another major success and inaugurated ATB’s string of vocal-trance anthems.

Tanneberger issued his second album, Two Worlds, at the close of October 2000. For the project, ATB worked with Heather Nova, Enigma, and the Canadian rock band Wild Strawberries. Presented as a double CD, the release paired dancefloor-oriented material on the first disc with more downtempo and ambient pieces on the second. After further hit singles, the 2002 album Dedicated arrived, highlighted by a popular reinterpretation of Olive’s “You’re Not Alone.” Addicted to Music, his fourth studio album, followed in 2003 and was accompanied by a DVD of the same title that compiled music videos up to that point along with footage from a U.S. tour, interviews, and additional material. Toward year’s end he also released The DJ in the Mix, the first in a series of continuous mix CDs.

No Silence, the fifth studio album, appeared in 2004 and offered a bonus edition containing another DVD. In 2005 ATB delivered his first career retrospective, Seven Years: 1998-2005, which gathered earlier hits alongside six new tracks. Trilogy arrived in 2007 as a two-disc set, the opening disc leaning toward pop and rock while the second emphasized ambient textures. Future Memories followed in 2009, again split between uptempo and downtempo halves, with the former incorporating higher-BPM drum’n’bass influences. The 2011 release Distant Earth expanded the format further, placing pop-trance songs on the first disc, downtempo and ambient material—including an Armin van Buuren collaboration—on the second, and club-focused tracks on a third disc available with the bonus edition. Later that year the two-CD remix collection Distant Earth Remixed appeared. Contact, ATB’s ninth studio album, maintained the two-disc dance-and-chillout structure, with a bonus version adding a third disc of remixes; released in 2014, it reached the top ten of both the German and Polish charts. Under the Stars, a mixed compilation of ambient selections, was created for two concerts at the Planetarium Bochum in 2016 and sold exclusively at those events.

ATB returned in 2017 with his tenth studio album, neXt. Consistent with prior releases, the first disc featured radio-friendly vocal dance-pop tracks while the second concentrated on ambient and downtempo compositions. A short EP titled A New Love surfaced in 2019. Under the Stars 2020 was offered at another Planetarium Bochum concert early the following year. In 2021, Topic and A7S joined ATB for a vocal reinterpretation of his landmark debut single; “Your Love (9PM)” marked Tanneberger’s first entry on the German pop charts since 2009.