Old-school master

PAUL OAKENFOLD, aka "The World's Most Successful DJ on the Planet Ever", returns next month to a city where he holds a special place in clubbing history. Oakey was the headliner at the seminal handover party Unity, held at a time when Hong Kong's clubbing scene was hitting the mainstream.

At the time, Oakenfold was ranked the world's top DJ, with his relentless, melodic trance sets the most popular sound around. Now approaching his 50th birthday, the British DJ has been overtaken by younger DJs playing more eclectic beats such as American dubstepper Skrillex and Canadian electro-house champion Deadmau5.

"I think rankings do matter and, of course, the names at the top reap the rewards of those positions," says Oakenfold, who was last year ranked 69th on DJ Mag's top 100 DJ list. "But I tend not to take it all too seriously. I'm happy with how busy I am. Any more and it might not be fun."

Regardless, he's sold more than a million albums, won Grammies and has remixed everyone from Madonna to Bruno Mars, for whom he created the recent dance-floor smash version of the hit Locked Out Of Heaven. He's written film scores and made it big in America where he sometimes hangs out with Hollywood A-listers. In case there is any doubt, Guinness World Records ranks him "the world's most successful club DJ".

Oakenfold's calendar is as busy as ever. From a recent set at Coachella in the US to his annual return to Ibiza, birthplace of the British acid house scene 25 years ago, he spends much of his life on the road.

As a founding father of the music movement that took the world by storm, Oakey's story is enshrined in club lore. He began DJing as a teenager and went to New York to tap into the burgeoning hip hop scene. But it was a trip to the Spanish island of Ibiza in 1987 for his 24th birthday that changed his life.