There’s no doubt that the helmet-wearing DJ who calls himself Marshmello has reached global fame. While the DJ’s speedy rise to stardom constantly puts him in the spotlight, his path to success may come as a surprise to fans.
Though most music producers have to spend long and arduous years working on their music before they have a breakthrough with a wider audience, the Pennsylvania-born Marshmello was granted the fast pass to success in the DJ world.
Keep reading to learn how a combination of talent, luck, and connections with the right people catapulted Marshmello to his peak.
A Top-Tier Endorsement
As electronic music continues to soar in popularity, many aspiring DJs set out to try their hand at the genre. The journey to fame usually requires putting in lots of time playing low-key gigs at bars and parties to build street cred, and even then, fame isn’t guaranteed. This wasn’t the case for Marshmello.
Marshmello was immediately noticed by Skrillex, a world-renowned electronic DJ who comes before him. Marshmello used SoundCloud to post his first tracks, both original mixes and remixes of songs originally produced by other established DJs. Shortly after Marshmello posted Find Me, one of his first pieces, Skrillex found it and reposted it. This was arguably the endorsement that changed Marshmello’s career trajectory forever. He rose to the top of the charts in no time.
By 2018, he was the 5th highest paid DJ in the world. Also in 2018, Marshmello not only made it on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, he was the cover story for the magazine. He raked in $44 million in 2018 alone.
The Man Behind the Helmet
Marshmello couldn’t hide behind his disguise forever. Around 2017, rumors started to spread about who he was. But what ultimately gave him away?
At first, the identity guessing game was a huge joke. Fans wondered, and Marshmello responded. He didn’t want to give himself away too easily, so he set up a few fake reveals with Sean Mendes, Tiesto, and even created a comedic video with Will Ferrell.
To understand a bit of the grand reveal, we have to take a look at Marshmello’s past. The young DJ had previously created music under the moniker “Dotcom” before switching to Marshmello. Dotcom wore no identity shield – everyone knew that Chris Comstock was the name behind the artist. So how did fans connect Dotcom to Marshmello?
As Marshmello’s music became more popular, fans who followed Dotcom noticed some uncanny similarities between the music produced under each name. Furthermore, Skrillex slipped up in an interview with Katie Couric. He received a call during the conversation, Katie addressed it by saying “It’s Chris,” and Skrillex corrected her by saying, “Oh, Marshmello.”
Conspiracy blogs and videos spread like wildfire, making guesses as to who he was and whether his association with Dotcom was real. But it was Forbes magazine that ultimately tied it all together in an article published in November of 2017, detailing all the evidence that clearly links Comstock to Marshmello.
Connecting With Fans
Even though Marshmello’s identity is crystal clear to the public today, he continues to wear his iconic bucket for performances. He may hide his face, but he doesn’t hide his devotion to his fans. And when it comes to entertainment, he doesn’t stop at music.
Marshmello launched a cooking series called “Cooking With Marshmello” on his YouTube channel in 2017. It remains widely popular to this day. Marshmello uses the videos to walk the audience through tasty recipes. You can’t get through one of his cooking tutorials without a few laughs. He has even included guest stars in these videos, including James Charles and Anne-Marie.
Marshmello is vocal about supporting all sorts of political movements and frequently donates to charitable causes, so his reach far extends the talent that got him to his platform. No matter if you’re a casual listener or a devoted fan, we can all agree that the story of the music producer’s rise to fame is one to be remembered.