David Guetta

Schooled first in the house clubs of Paris, then the all-night rave spots of Ibiza, French-Moroccan DJ David Guetta backed his 21st-century explosion onto the superstar disc-spinner circuit with more than a decade of solid, crowd-pleasing experience. So what's the secret of his stratospheric success? Well, he certainly knows how to milk a sample for maximum hook effect — check out "Just for One Day (Heroes)." He's also been incredibly astute in his choice of guest vocalists (Estelle, Kelly Rowland, Akon), and he knows exactly how to straddle the line that separates creamy house from thumpin' techno. Your Guetta groove begins with 2009's "One Love." Choice cuts from Guetta's first two studio albums light up our Next Steps.

Guetta's first studio album — 2002's Just a Little More Love — may have been around a decade overdue, but it was well worth the wait. American vocalist Chris Willis (the former gospel singer who features heavily on the record, and first met Guetta while on holiday in Paris) takes mellow house grinder "People Come, People Go" to another level, and pumps soulful passion into the floor-filling banger "Distortion." Second album Guetta Blasta (2004) found our architect of clubland ecstasy cranking up the pace with the irresistible cardio-crusher "ACDC" and his universe-traversing anthem "The World Is Mine."

Ibiza club legend David Guetta started out as a pioneer of the French house scene, and became a fixture on the Parisian club circuit, before branching out into the Balearics . . . but this seasoned slow-burner really hit it big in the world at large two decades into his career, thanks to the anthemic lead single from 2009's One Love — "When Love Takes Over" featuring former Beyoncé cohort Kelly Rowland. European dance floors had been set ablaze by Guetta back in 2005 courtesy of his Simple Minds-sampling "The World Is Mine," and these days he's working with a superstar roster than includes Akon ("Sexy B***h") and will.i.am ("I Wanna Go Crazy"). Here, we look back to his first hit "Just a Little More Love" (with regular vocal collaborator, Chris Willis) and wonder just why it took so long for Guetta to become a household name.