Calvin Harris: Fish Factory to Fame

There are a load of reasons to be excited about Calvin Harris’ impending MTV EMA performance. Not only is he the biggest DJ in the world, he’s also a Scot, so the gig in Glasgow’s SSE Hydro is going to be a real homecoming for the superstar.

So, in celebration of one of the host nation’s favourite sons, we’re charting the steps Calvin Harris has taken to becoming one of the world’s most successful stars…

1. Calvin started off small – success was by no means an instant thing for him. The teen recorded demos in his bedroom in Dumfries whilst working as a shelf stacker and in a fish factory.

2. He’s bounced back from his fair share of failures. At 23, he moved back from London to Scotland after not being able to find a job to pay the rent.

3. Calvin certainly knows the value of hard work. He says that whilst people assume he just released a track which hit it big and propelled him to stardom, he was actually putting out music for a long time before gaining any real recognition.

4. Calvin got his big break through social media. His music was first discovered on Myspace by a label rep who then helped him score a record deal.

5. Right from the beginnings of his forays into the music industry, the DJ’s been king of collabs. Back in 2007, Calvin worked with Kylie Minogue on tracks for her album. In more recent years he’s hit the studio with a smörgåsbord of stars, from the likes of Kelis to Rihanna, and Florence Welsh to Ne-Yo.

6. While he modesty claims that “I happened to be in the right place at the right time”, the record he holds for having the most top ten UK hits from one album proves that Calvin is one hard working man.

7. Nowadays, Calvin’s quite the global superstar. Forbes named him 2013 and 2014’s highest earning DJ. Oh, and have we mentioned? He’ll be performing at the EMA next month!

8. And what next for Calvin Harris? Well, he wants to be “the number one songwriter-producer guy of all time.”