It’s hard to believe that Spaceman, arguably Hardwell’s most recognisable track, just turned ten years-old on January 23rd 2022.
This seemingly normal release was one of the reasons why Hardwell’s career skyrocketed to the point where he became DJ Mag’s No.1 DJ two years in a row. But after ten years of success, how has this iconic track fared?
‘Spaceman’ was the follow up for ‘Cobra’, a song that was the 2012 official anthem of Dutch festival Energy.
Hardwell’s “Spaceman” rise over the years
Hardwell premiered the track for the first time whilst on tour in the US and the reactions from the crowd were priceless. This was the track that inevitable led to Hardwell’s success in the years 2013-2018.
I’m sure that in 10 years time, this track will maintain its status as one of the most influential and iconic EDM tracks of all time. However, it’s now been a while since we’ve seen the superstar DJ perform or even release any new music.
A surprise appearance at the Revealed ADE event would change all this. Last year, Hardwell made a shocking appearance at the after party of his own label Revealed Recordings and partied with the crowd and his fellow label artists.
During that ADE performance, Revealed veteran Kaaze said: “this is not just my hero, he is all of our mentor, our hero, our number one DJ in the world”
“This is not official yet but he is coming,” continued Kaaze.
After a touching moment like that, it was great to see a smile on the man that’s brought happiness to so many EDM fans all these years. This got Hardwell fans thinking if his appearance at ADE 2021 could signal the end of his hiatus which started in September 2018.
A lot has changed since then, the whole face of EDM and the audiences taste has developed a lot in recent years. So it will be very interesting to see how Hardwell fits in with the new generation of EDM stars. However, not all hope might be lost. EDM fans might just have discovered something fascinating. Ultra Miami has given us so many iconic moments, including some great Hardwell sets.
Possible return to Ultra Music Festival
Given that Ultra Miami goes ahead this year at the end of March, the lineup could be interesting.
When Ultra Miami announced its lineup for the 2022 festival, one name was blurred out. EDM heavyweights like Tiesto, David Guetta, Martin Garrix and Afrojack were present so clearly this blurred artist must be a pretty big deal.
What’s even more interesting is that the blurred name finds itself in between DJs Gareth Emery and Illenium, hinting that the name starts with ‘H’ as the lineup is displayed in alphabetical order. As pointed out by Twitter account Dancing Astronaut.
This looks very promising for Hardwell fans as this could be the return of one of EDM’s most important artists. All EDM fans can do for now is just speculate and keep a keen eye on Hardwell’s and Revealed Recordings’ social media channels.
I’m sure that this announcement will be worth the wait. But as for the comeback of Hardwell – only time will tell.