5 EDM Artists Who Have Sang On Their Own Songs

The release of Martin Garrix’s collaboration with Arijit Singh, ‘Angels For Each Other’ has seen the debut of Garrix providing vocals for one of his songs. He has already garnered a lot of praise for his impressive performance which seemingly came out of the blue, but he’s not the first EDM artist to also be a vocalist.

Drew Taggart (The Chainsmokers)

There are actually several tracks that Drew Taggart has provided vocals on and all of them have been huge. His vocal debut came on ‘Closer’ alongside renowned singer Halsey. Not only was it a big song, but it is in fact The Chainsmokers most streamed song of all time having over 3 billion streams on Spotify. Along with that it won Top Collaboration and Top Dance/Electronic Song at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. He also provided vocals on another billion-stream breaker with ‘Paris’ as well as the excellent ‘All We Know’ where his vocals blend beautifully with Phoebe Ryan’s. Having had so much success in front of the mic it’s likely that we could yet hear more from him on future chart toppers.

Avicii

Avicii’s musical talents were vast and impressive, however he was never known for being a singer. There’s only one track that you can find his vocals on which is ‘True Believer’ where it’s quite hard to recognise his voice due to the editing done on the vocals. Avicii sings on the verses of the track where his vocals are pitched up, but if you take the song and pitch it down 2 semitones then you’ll hear him clear as day. The vocals in the chorus are provided by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin who was originally supposed to sing the whole track. When he read the lyrics though he said that he felt they were too personal, and suggested Avicii should do them himself leading to his only vocal credit in his entire career.

Mau P

Maurits Westveen has found great success since moving on from his Maurice West pseudonym to being Mau P. This shift has seen him majorly change his musical style as well as leading to him putting his vocals into a track for the first time in ‘On Again.’ His voice fits the track perfectly as his vocals take centre stage and the acapella has since been put into numerous mashups. The track quickly became a fan favourite and is a regular staple of his DJ sets having become one of his biggest records to date.

Porter Robinson

Porter Robinson made his first vocal appearance back in 2014 on the iconic ‘Sad Machines’ where he sang alongside the Vocaloid synthesized voice of Avanna. It wasn’t till 7 years later that his vocals really had their moment in the sun on his second studio album ‘Nurture’ where he was the sole vocalist. Across the album it sounds like a variety of vocalists are featured though it is in fact all Porter Robinson’s voice edited in different ways. His editing of the vocals is masterful along with his voice being genuinely amazing and being a highlight of ‘Nurture.’ He incorporates his singing into his live sets as well which is always a welcome addition as he has a real talent for it.

Like Mike

Featured alongside Ne-Yo, Like Mike provides vocals on the 2015 smash hit ‘Higher Place’ where his voice can be heard during the chorus’. His relaxed, laidback voice matches the energy of the song excellently while providing an interesting contrast to Ne-Yo’s sections. ‘Higher Place’ earned Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike their first ever number 1 in the United States as it reached the top of the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. It also went to number in their home country of Belgium where it went platinum.