Victor Calderone

History

Raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, Calderone was introduced into New York City's nightlife by his older brother, Cesar, who was very active in the club music business. Calderone began to dabble with turntables and other DJ-related equipment at the age of 15. A decade later, in 1991, music mogul Seymour Stein signed both Calderone and his partner Gene LaFosse (they collaborated on a short-lived techno act called Program 2) to a contract deal with Sire Records. Shortly after the release of their first album, the group disbanded and Calderone took a self-imposed exile away from the music industry.

During the time he removed himself from the club music industry, Calderone worked in the restaurant business but eventually was encouraged to work on new projects including his first solo record,“Give It Up”. Calderone later returned to #1 spot for two weeks in 2001 with "Are You Satisfied?," featuring vocals by Deborah Cooper.

Further inspired by New York’s then-thriving club scene, Victor landed gigs at many major events in the city. Calderone obtained residencies at both the Roxy in New York and Liquid in Miami Beach. Victor would then meet and commence a successful relationship with superstar singer Madonna in 1998. Impressed by Calderone's innovative vision and style, he was commissioned to remix Frozen, the first single released from her Ray of Light album. Since 1998, he has remixed nine other singles for Madonna.

Following up on Madonna’s recommendation, legendary singer Sting selected Calderone to remix his song "Desert Rose," the second single from his 1999 Brand New Day album. The British singer did not only hire Calderone to remix the single, which was something he had never done before with his music, but even returned to the studio with him to re-record the vocals to match the remixed song’s new dance-oriented rhythms. The song spent an impressive 80 weeks on the Billboard dance charts including nine consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.

Besides his work with Madonna and Sting, his credits as remixer includes work for such artists as Beyoncé Knowles, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and Sarah Brightman, amongst others.

He has also collaborated with other house music producers—including Mac Quayle and most notably Peter Rauhofer, the first Grammy Award winner in the Dance Music category. Their joint effort, known as The Collaboration released a popular multi-CD set and several hit single tracks.

After a long string of successful albums and singles, Calderone established his Evolve brand in 2005 as a way to coalesce his numerous residencies around the world, including Montreal, Tel Aviv, Bulgaria, and a monthly residency at New York’s Pacha. With the Evolve brand now taking off globally, clubgoers have quickly begun to equate the word with joy-inducing, risk-taking sets that shatter musical boundaries and the conventions of what a DJ set “should” be.

Personal life

Calderone resides with his wife Athena, and their son in Brooklyn.