david guetta yacht

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

• What Is Cinema?
• Newsletters

Ivanka Trump Hangs With David Guetta, Proving That Everyone Is Your Friend on a Yacht

By Kenzie Bryant

Last week we discussed how, when you buy a yacht, you’re buying a stage . It is an ideal place for not-so-poor players to strut and fret their hours away (and for the paparazzi to take pictures of bon vivants in their bathing costumes). This week it’s the magnetic power of yachts that I want to talk about. Or rather, the ability of these big water hotels to attract some of the strangest mixes of people, like a cursed salon on open seas. 

The most random people in the world will get together on the deck of a yacht and it will always make sense logically. Why? Because that guy has a yacht. What are you going to do? Say no to an invitation aboard? Obviously not. 

This weekend, French DJ David Guetta came together with couple Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner off the coast of Spain. They all said yes to a yacht. Whose yacht? I can’t tell from the photos, but it sure looks like an Arnault son is there. 

This is like when Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Brady were spotted aboard the same weather deck recently. Or when Oprah, Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, and Julianna Margulies were all on David Geffen ’s yacht . Or when Andy Cohen joined Anderson Cooper and his ex Benjamin Maisani, Bradley Cooper and his ex Irina Shayk, Allison Williams and her ex Ricky Van Veen on Diane von Furstenberg ’s yacht . You’re like, huh? These people seem like they’d at most know each other in passing or in a work context, but not as friends who would go on vacation together. 

And then you’re like, I don’t know, I guess that makes sense. They are all “names” and they all said yes to a ride in a big boat. Who wouldn’t? Maybe they’re all actually very good friends, but the likeliest reason that they’re all spending precious time off together is because someone said, Come on my yacht? Tom Hanks will be there. 

For their part, Ivanka and Jared’s boating adventure is the latest in a long road of travels. They are in their endless summer era, voyaging from Costa Rica to Greece to Jordan for Crown Prince Hussein and his new wife Rajwa’s wedding. You can’t be called out for not being by your embattled father’s side when you’re on another continent, you know. And famously, it’s very easy to outrun your troubles. You just have to keep it moving. 

Read More From Vanity Fair

Anne Hathaway on Tuning Out the Haters and Embracing Her True Self

Rose Hanbury Sends Legal Notice to Stephen Colbert After His Affair Joke

The Evolving Power of the Princess of Wales

A Complete Guide to the Criminal and Civil Cases Against Donald Trump

The Best TV Shows of 2024, So Far

From the Archive: The Fatal Mauling of the Man Who Loved Grizzlies (2004)

Stay in the know and subscribe to Vanity Fair for just $2.50 $1 per month.

By Julie Miller

By Eve Batey

By Kase Wickman

Kenzie Bryant

Staff writer, royal watch.

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By Bess Levin

By Richard Lawson

Video Shows Diddy's House Trashed After Raid, Calls Case 'Witch Hunt'

Dip Into These Halle Bailey Hot Shots To Celebrate Her 24th Birthday!

Rebel Wilson Claims Sacha Baron Cohen Asked Her to Stick Finger Up His Butt

Barbara K. On 'Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills' 'Memba Her?!

Diddy's Neighbor Who Went Viral at Raid Scene Was Trolling, Mom Says

David guetta -- tiesto crashed into my dock with a yacht ... and i can't stop laughing, david guetta tiesto crashed my dock with a yacht and i can't stop laughing, exclusive details 3/25/2015 4:39 pm pt.

Rockstar DJ Tiesto just showed us how to get a laugh out of a multi-millionaire -- simply total his South Beach dock by smashing into it with a yacht!

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Tiesto and crew -- Martin Garrix , and LIV owner Dave Grutman -- went to scoop up David Guetta in Grutman's 55' VanDutch yacht. Y'know, typical Wednesday stuff.

But as they approached Guetta's dock, the engine stalled and they couldn't stop the boat from barreling into the dock. Don't worry ... we're told nobody was hurt, and even the boat survived without a scratch.

Guetta's response -- laugh hysterically, jump aboard the yacht, and head to a party.

We're told it's gonna cost about 30k to fix the dock, and Guetta won't make Tiesto pay for it. As for why they all laughed it off -- Tiesto, Guetta, and Garrix all command about $300k to $500k for a single gig.

#richpeopleNOproblems

• Share on Facebook

'Teen Mom' Mackenzie McKee -- I Crashed My Brand New Car ... And I Blame Diabetes

'Parker Lewis' Star -- SUES Filmmakers Over Leg Shattered In Boat Crash

Harrison Ford -- Plane Crashes ... Actor Seriously Injured (VIDEO UPDATE: Paramedics Treat Harrison)

Old news is old news be first.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories

How Martin Garrix and David Guetta became best friends

By Kathleen Johnston

From the moment I am ushered into a suite at the W Hotel in Leicester Square, my eyes are drawn not to the two DJs sat comfortably chatting on the giant revolving chesterfield sofa - despite their global superstar status and instantly recognisable faces - but instead, to the near-absurdity of the room itself. Martin Garrix and David Guetta are kings of commercial dance music, this suite a party palace. From the mega bar and DJ booth to the ostentatious mirrored disco ball-style ceiling, the interiors are a reflection of how the EDM scene has changed over the last 15 years. What was once an underground movement that Guetta calls “just a bunch of friends around the world who like this music” is now a glamorous enclave of eye-watering excess, laser shows timed to thumping baselines and audiences tens of thousands of fans strong.

At the forefront of it all are Guetta and Garrix, with a 29-year age gap between them, two hugely successful collaborations already in the bag and a combined social following of over 121.5 million people. Fifty-year-old Guetta, known as “the grandfather of EDM”, is one of the pioneers of the current scene, having paved the way for producer/ DJ types to become pop icons in their own right. Garrix, who at just 21, is ranked the No1 DJ in the world (the youngest person ever to have reached this publicly voted accolade), shares management with Justin Bieber and recently closed the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

Together, the friends and collaborators have produced one of the most successful hits of 2018, “Like I Do”, which has racked up 92m streams on Spotify alone. Yet for all the glitzy hotel suites , headliner slots and frankly astonishing stats, on the day of this interview I am met with warm smiles, relaxed vibes and the kind of amusing back-and-forth banter only true friends could bounce through with such ease.

Covering everything from how they became friends in the first place to the time Garrix almost crashed a yacht into Guetta’s house, the pair talk age in the EDM scene, challenging haters and what it is that makes their relationship is so special.

**GQ: You have been friends and collaborators for quite some time. How did you two meet and start to work together? **

Martin Garrix: Actually, we've been in the studio for the last four or five years.

David Guetta: It's been a very long process.

**MG: **I think we got introduced to each other at a festival and then just hung out at the studio. We've always had so many ideas going back and forth [between us]. We actually played a song that we've never released before at Ultra, but we wanted to wait for the right song at the right time. There's a lot of rough ideas and then we started with "So Far Away", it was a song where we both thought, "Wow, this vocal is amazing". Then with "Like I Do", both songs sound like us.

**DG: **The thing is that because Martin has a pretty big name and I'm doing okay, people always tell us, "you only come with hits". But the reality is, as least for me, I do 100 rubbish songs that stay in my hard drive, then I put one out. People don't necessarily understand that we need to spend hours and hours and multiple sessions to finally end up with something good. It took us time, but now we have two [great songs] in a row.

MG: We want to work on a full collaborative project [an EP or album]...

**GQ: So you've been working together for a long time. Do you ever hang out outside of work? **

DG: Oh yeah, all the time.

MG: One day in Miami, I came to say hello to David at his boat dock when I was in the area on a yacht...

DG: I was home and he came to say hi. The yacht didn't have the best drivers, and the boat ended up almost coming inside my house - not the best . It was a little bit of an expensive visit, but it was nice. We always hang out and we always talk. We both travel a lot but we'll always FaceTime, send music to each other. For me, I love having his opinion because obviously he's from a different generation. We have the exact same life, but with a different vision, even though we're part of the same community, the same culture. I think that's why I love working with someone younger. I've made many many songs in my career, so maybe I'm a little bit more "song" orientated and he has all the new coolest tricks of production and that's natural. I think this is what makes [our relationship] amazing.

By Daphne Bugler

By Adrian Clark

By Alex Hoyt

GQ: So Martin, would you say that you see David as a mentor?

MG: Yeah definitely.

**DG: **Oh come on!

MG: One hundred per cent. I send him songs, he gives feedback and helps with anything. He was one of the first guys who played out a song I did six years ago called "BFAM" with Julian Jordan - it's a very old song. David was one of the first people to begin testing it out live and I just remember looking up the videos on the internet, seeing him playing it live and being like, "Oh my God". That already gave me enough inspiration to go back in the studio and work more. We met during Amsterdam Dance Event and then...

**DG: **I remember that, you were a baby I swear.

**MG: **Then we kept in touch. We started emailing and he was like, "Yo. We have to do a session together." So we did a lot of sessions together and now we have two songs.

GQ: David, it's been 15 years since the release of your first big hit. You must have seen the music industry change quite a bit since. Do you think it's easier or more difficult for young artists like Martin to try and break through now?

**DG: **OK so, let's say it's a shorter [process], but does it mean it's easier? I don't think so. It's just different. This music was so underground when I started it, so you really needed to build-up your career over years, there was no social media. It was word of mouth... But now, young artists have more competition because every single teenager wants to be a football player or a DJ. There's millions of competitors, whereas when I started it was such a small movement, we were just a bunch of friends around the world that liked this music.

GQ: Martin you've achieved such success at a young age. Do you think there's difficulties in being famous so young?

MG: People don't take you really seriously. The first thing I received after "Animals" was all these comments like, "Yeah, he doesn't make his own music" or "he's fabricated". I was pissed so I started doing all these tutorials, all these masterclasses and stuff to prove it really was me making the music. Now I'm actually OK, everyone knows I'm behind my own stuff. The only thing that I had troubles with was - for example - when I did a show in Las Vegas . My first Vegas show was when I was 17. Until I was 21 - and I just turned 21 last year - I wasn't allowed to be in the club.

GQ: You got kicked out?

**MG: **Yeah, after [my sets]. No drinks [were allowed], they would clear the entire DJ booth. They would pick me up from my hotel room, start my intro when I was outside the club, I would DJ, they would escort me out and then back to the room. So all the afters were in the room. They are super strict in America, but besides that it's a creative industry - age is just a number. If you deliver, if the show is good and your music is good, it doesn't matter whether your are 80 or if you're 12.

**GQ: Do you think there's a relationship between festivals becoming more mainstream and the rise of EDM? As you were saying David, when you started out the scene was just a couple of friends around the world, whereas now, dance music is pop music. **

DG: I think it always comes from the music. It's not that the festival maybe is more popular, it's that because our music became popular, festivals became more popular. It's not the other way around. Everything comes from the music because people talk like... OK, he's good looking or whatever, but at some point, what are we talking about? We're talking about music. Of course making the right decisions, strategy is important, but it's all about music. That's what it's all about. The reason why festivals became more consumer is because our music became more consumer.

GQ: What's the most memorable show that you've ever played?

DG: He just did the Olympics, come on!

MG: For me it was the Winter Olympics. I fell in love with electronic music in 2004 because my Mum pulled me in front of the TV when Tiesto was playing at the Olympics and now, in every interview, I say that I started because of the Olympics and because of Tiesto. The music touched me, it triggered the energy. The Olympic Committee heard that and they invited me to do the closing of the Winter Olympics. Being there it felt... it still doesn't feel like it really happened. It's very crazy.

DG: I have a similar story actually, because there was the Euro Football Championship a year ago and it was taking place in Paris , so they made me create the music for it and play the stadium for the final. I also played under the Eiffel Tower. I'm from Paris, so it was crazy for me. To do it in my own city for such a huge event and representing my country, it made me very proud. It made me look back to see where I was raised. It was really big for me.

"Like I Do" is out now.

**Head to the British GQ Vero channel to watch us put Martin Garrix and David Guetta's knowledge of one another to the test, from guessing their most expensive purchases to biggest pet peeves. The pair also reveal their favourite places in the world to play and share what they are currently listening to and watching. ** Follow us on Vero for exclusive music content and commentary, all the latest music lifestyle news and insider access into the GQ world, from behind-the-scenes insight to recommendations from our Editors and high-profile talent.

**Like this? Now read: **

Craig David and Bastille's Dan Smith talk collaborating on'I Know You', friendship and Jeremy Corbyn

Watch GQ take Steve Aoki shopping for the perfect on-stage outfit

Behind the scenes with Martin Garrix at Coachella Music Festival 2017

By Josiah Gogarty

By Peter Bevan

By Daisy Jones

By Jack King

By Zak Maoui

DJ Tiësto crashes yacht into David Guetta’s dock

• Work & Careers
• Life & Arts

Superstar DJ David Guetta on how he built his hedonistic brand

• Superstar DJ David Guetta on how he built his hedonistic brand on x (opens in a new window)
• Superstar DJ David Guetta on how he built his hedonistic brand on facebook (opens in a new window)
• Superstar DJ David Guetta on how he built his hedonistic brand on linkedin (opens in a new window)
• Superstar DJ David Guetta on how he built his hedonistic brand on whatsapp (opens in a new window)

Ludovic Hunter-Tilney

Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.

The rogue scion of a leftwing intellectual Parisian family sits opposite me at a wooden table under a canopy on a whitewashed terrace. Blue sea and yachts are to his right, to his left is an equally blue swimming pool ringed by buff young people in afternoon repose. Behind him, on the opposite side of the bay, is Ibiza Town, shimmering in the cloudless heat. “I love being here,” says a smiling David Guetta.

The Frenchman is in his natural habitat. As one of the world’s most successful DJs, Guetta spends his summers on the Spanish Balearic island renowned for its unbridled nightlife. Each week he plays a pair of club nights, or “parties”, as he calls them, at two prominent Ibizan clubs, Pacha and Ushuaïa. With tourism to the island booming — 2016 saw a record-breaking 7.1m visitors — he began this year’s DJ-ing duties in June, a month before the season usually gets under way.

“I was a little bit scared, you know,” he says. “Because it [Ushuaïa] is a big place and the island was not supposed to be full yet. But it was packed. Insane.”

Our lunch is at Destino, a chic resort owned by Pacha. Guetta first appeared at the club in 1996 (“It is like family”). His residency is called, with characteristic delicacy, “F*** Me I’m Famous”, a perfect inscription for the age of the superstar DJ. Guetta and his fellow dance-music titans — they are almost all men — are like rock stars used to be in the 1970s, leading a lifestyle of private jets, adoration, egotism and vast wealth.

Over the past decade Guetta’s fame has gone global. His brash anthems, a kind of hyper-disco, reverberate around the world’s pleasure zones, from Las Vegas to Phuket. Like a fallen Pilgrim Father, he helped trigger the US’s conversion to the promised land of dance music in the 2000s. He has conquered the charts with dance-pop hits featuring some of pop’s biggest names, including Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Usher and Sia. He has his own record label, Jack Back Records, and divides his time between Los Angeles, Miami and London as well as an Ibiza mansion. A chartered jet awaits him at the airport, ready to take him to club nights and summer festivals around Europe. Last year Forbes estimated his annual earnings at $28m.

Today Guetta, 49, is wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses and a white T-shirt. His usual long hair has been cut short and he has a beard, gingerish with flecks of grey. It is 3.30pm. “In Ibiza everything is late,” he says. Without looking at the menu, he orders grilled chicken, steamed vegetables and rice, with water to drink, the health-conscious choice of a trim middle-aged man determined to maintain his trimness. (“In Love with Myself” comes to mind, one of the tracks from his impeccably named 2004 album Guetta Blaster .) However, he changes his mind when I muse about the fish. Guetta picks the sea bass, which the waitress glosses in English as “more clean” than the alternative, John Dory, which I choose.

“This is the only time of the year when I’m a little social,” Guetta says. He speaks in English, with a trace of an American accent. “People imagine that we [DJs] just party. But the reality is very different. You go from the hotel to the stage, there’s a security corridor to get you on stage, and then you go back to the hotel. So when I’m in Ibiza I invite all my friends. I have a house here, I go out to listen to other DJs. We hang out together, which we don’t normally. So it’s a nice time of year.”

The waitress returns with glasses filled with ice for water. Guetta does not want the ice cube in his and throws it out of the glass towards the sea in a violent motion. It bounces off a post back on to the floor. I point out the potential health-and-safety hazard. He gets up and kicks it out the way. “I don’t want you to break a leg,” he tells the waitress.

If Ibiza is Guetta’s natural habitat then the US is his adopted home. Although techno and house music are American inventions, formed in cities such as Detroit and Chicago, the nation lagged behind the rest of the world in opening itself up to dance music. That changed almost a decade ago with its rebranding as “electronic dance music”, or EDM. Guetta was its flag-bearer.

In 2009 he was asked by The Black Eyed Peas’ leader William “will.i.am” Adams to produce the Californian hip-hop group’s song “I Gotta Feeling”. The result united high-tempo Eurodance with US pop-rap, an irresistibly catchy act of hybridisation. It became one of the best-selling singles in chart history. Guetta recalls the music mogul Jimmy Iovine saying to him: “Look, David, this record is going to change the world. This is the new format of pop music from now on.”

So it proved. Guetta’s One Love album, also released in 2009, brought him a series of hits under his own name, including “Sexy Bitch”, featuring the R&B singer Akon, which was given the marginally less offensive title of “Sexy Chick” for the “clean” radio version.

“That moment in 2009 something really unique happened. And it happened, I would say, from 2009 to 2016. There was a moment when the music in the United States and Europe was the same. This never happens. Maybe at the time of The Beatles, you know, but it’s very rare,” he says.

Guetta detects a change today. “Music is back to very hip-hop in the US and pop and dance here,” he says. But the EDM genie cannot be returned to its jar. The Frenchman remains a frequent star at mega-raves in Miami and Las Vegas, appearing on immense podiums surrounded by fireworks and manic lighting shouting “I have come to party with you!” to thousands of revellers like a disco Olympian. “It’s huge. It’s an industry now,” he says. Although growth slowed last year, the EDM market still reached $7.1bn.

Guetta himself has slipped slightly down the Forbes annual earnings list and believes it is time to adapt. “Because it’s the end of a cycle, with death there is every possibility. There is like an empty space that needs to be filled,” he says. In September he will fly to LA to work on his seventh album. It will include his latest hit, “2U”, which features Justin Bieber, formerly derided as a teen-pop brat, now lauded as a credible A-lister. “He got a lot of shit for his career for a bit, which I guess comes with success for anyone. And then when you stay, people are like — OK!” He gives a Gallic shrug and reaches for an olive from a bowl.

Guetta has his own haters. He has been lambasted as a purveyor of trashy, vulgar songs for the masses, crude in execution and outlook. His fellow EDM superstar Deadmau5 called him “a shitty overpaid DJ” in 2015 when a horse was ridden into Pacha to open Guetta’s F*** Me I’m Famous night. The video to his 2014 single “Dangerous” is a fantasy in which the fast-car-loving Guetta wins a Formula One race, aided by a team of female mechanics in impracticably scanty unitards. “In a club nothing really matters,” runs a robotically intoned lyric in one of his tracks. To Guetta’s detractors, the sentiment sums up his vacuity.

Cap Martinet, Ibiza

Bread and olives €6

Wild sea bass with vegetables and rice €36

John Dory with vegetables and rice €40

Ocumare chocolate and vanilla ice cream €12

Artesian water, still €10

Americano coffee €4

Earl Grey tea €4

Total (inc service) €127

“I never felt like I was a sellout because I have always made the music I love. I was just trying to make it for a broader audience. There was a moment in my career when I wasn’t sure because there was so much pressure and I was doubting a little bit, so I would still play those underground parties,” he says, referring to his transformation into an EDM icon. “But the minute I said, ‘Look, this is who I am, this is what my heart feels like, this is what I want to do with my life and people are happy — what is the problem?’ From that day I never heard those criticisms.”

I ask whether he regrets the chauvinistic sentiments of “Sexy Bitch”, which he wrote in Atlanta with Akon, who came up with the title and lyrics.

“No, actually. It was super-funny,” Guetta replies. “At the time I was married, very much of a good boy, and he was like, ‘You don’t understand anything about women, my friend. You have to understand that this is going to make the girls so horny, a song like this.’ ‘No,’ I said, ‘they’re going to feel insulted.’ But from the time I released this record it was so crazy, girls would throw me underwear. He was right!” He laughs. “It was insane! This was like a late lesson about woman’s psychology.”

As he talks, his body pulses to the sound of the background tunes. He projects the self-confidence of one who spends a good portion of his life standing above thousands of people with their hands in the air and rapture on their faces. “I’m trying to do something timeless,” he says of his music. “People always want to listen to something new, but at the same time emotions are always the same. There’s not a new emotion that is going to come out, because we are human beings.”

Our food arrives, fish and vegetables with bowls of rice. Guetta forks some rice into his mouth before piling it on his plate. He has two chunky rings on the fingers of one hand, rock-star jewellery.

His DJ-ing epiphany arrived in 1988 when he visited the London club Shoom at the height of acid house, where the DJ Danny Rampling stood under banks of lights, the star of the show, not an anonymous record-selector in the darkness. “That changed my life completely,” Guetta remembers. He returned to Paris, where, with his wife Cathy as business partner, he created a mini-empire of nightspots, including two restaurants and a burlesque bar. Guetta recalls that this time “was amazing as a social experience but business-wise, oh my God, it’s one of the hardest businesses to make profitable. You have to really count everything and I’m not like this at all.”

The venues are gone but his entrepreneurialism continues. After making “I Gotta Feeling”, his meeting with Iovine led to a link-up with the mogul’s Beats Electronics range of headphones. At Ibiza airport, advertisements show him sporting a timepiece by the luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer. One of their watches sits in chunky splendour on his wrist at Destino. “The first time I did endorsements, my whole community was so shocked. It was like, ‘Oh my god, how could you do this? It’s terrible.’ But now it’s standard. Every DJ is doing this. It’s actually a sign of being successful.”

He began wanting to be a DJ at the age of 12. “It’s so crazy because there was no famous DJ at the time. There was no glamour, there was no money, there was nothing like that.” He chomps a crunchy vegetable. “Mmm. I was just obsessed with music and I was very into the technical aspect of creating it. I don’t even understand it myself because my family were not musicians or anything.”

His Belgian mother Monique worked as a psychologist while his Moroccan Jewish father Pierre was a sociologist, specialising in the world of work. “Both of my parents are intellectuals and intellectuals always have a completely wrong understanding of real life,” he says cheerfully between mouthfuls.

When he was seven, his father decided to seek a more relaxed life by opening a traditional French restaurant. “But of course it was way harder,” Guetta says with a chuckle, “even though the restaurant was very small. He had no idea what he was getting into. It was actually a very fascinating place. My father would go around reciting the food poems of Baudelaire.”

The contents on his plate are moved around robustly, the fork chopping down on the sea bass in a no-nonsense manner. “My mum thought that everything I was doing was very stupid,” he says. “She was a communist so she felt like all this superficial life and chasing materialistic dreams were a waste of my time.”

Were there arguments? “Oh yeah, at the time, of course,” he replies, clenching his fist at the memory. And now? “Hmm, I think she’s proud of my success. She still feels the same about society. We would fight like crazy when I was young. I was like, ‘I’m going to be rebellious, I’m going to make money.’ ” He chuckles again. “That was me being a rebel to my parents. Isn’t that funny? My mum was almost disgusted that I was so business-oriented.”

In the 2000s he decided to sell the restaurants and burlesque bar and concentrate on music. “My mum was like, ‘I’m so proud of you, you’re finally going to be an artist.’ Like, who says this?! It’s completely crazy!”

His plate is emptied before mine. A pair of women take a selfie behind him, either to get a view of the superstar DJ’s head or the John Dory-munching features of the FT’s pop critic. The former seems more likely.

Our plates are removed. Guetta waives dessert but I suggest I might have one. “Of course! But why not?” he replies expansively. He orders a black tea. A mobile phone materialises in his hand while I inspect the menu and is placed on the table when I choose ice cream and coffee.

In November he will turn 50, a landmark about which he professes unconcern. “I come to party with the people, that’s my thing. This is why I’m actually not tripping on my age. The people who are in front of me, they are always the same age since I started. Always in their twenties. I feel like I’m the same. My energy and passion are the same. So, OK, it’s a little crazy, sometimes I’m with friends who are 25 and they laugh at me and say, ‘Man, you know you’re double our age.’ ”

In 2014 he split from Cathy, his wife of 22 years. In an acrimonious case that generated much media coverage, she claimed half of his reported $30m fortune. (“Very hard because of course it was also having a direct impact on my children.”)

His current partner is the Cuban model Jessica Ledon, 24, with whom he was recently snapped by paparazzi “sharing a steamy kiss” (in tabloid-speak) on a beach. “Of course I don’t like it, having pictures taken when I don’t look good,” he says, laughing.

Escapism is the Frenchman’s stock-in-trade. But a final question about the troubled world beyond the Ibizan bubble — terrorism in other countries is a reason for the island’s booming tourism — elicits something of a Guetta remix of liberté, egalité, fraternité .

“I was never into politics but my choices when it comes to life and music were always to bring people together,” he says.

“I’m not especially VIP — I mean, I have money and I live this life, but I like mixing with everyone, so to me this is already the best possible answer. For me the fact that we are all together dancing on the same beat, people are coming from every different country in the world to Ibiza: this is already the best possible answer to everything that is happening.”

The dance floor as utopia — his mother would approve. “Absolutely!” he says brightly.

Ludovic Hunter-Tilney is the FT’s pop critic

This article has been amended since publication. Though a horse was ridden into Pacha, it was not David Guetta who was riding it

Illustration by James Ferguson

Promoted Content

Follow the topics in this article.

• Life & Arts Add to myFT
• David Guetta Add to myFT
• Lunch with the FT Add to myFT
• Ludovic Hunter-Tilney Add to myFT

International Edition

• U.K. Showbiz
• Meghan Markle
• Jeremy Renner
• Taylor Swift
• Kim Kardashian

Guetta load of this! Shirtless David, 54, makes a rare outing without longterm girlfriend Jessica Ledon, 30, on a fun-filled boat trip with pals in Ibiza

• The French music producer, 54, made a rare outing without his longterm girlfriend Jessica Ledon, 30
• The couple have been dating since 2015 a year after he split from wife Cathy - with whom he shares two kids
• David seemed in high spirits as he partied on a yacht in Ibiza with a bevy of female friends  

By Kate Dennett For Mailonline

Published: 07:42 EDT, 8 July 2022 | Updated: 12:29 EDT, 8 July 2022

View comments

He is busy showing off his DJ skills as he is currently enjoying an 18-week residency at Hï Ibiza, which sees him perform his Future Rave party every Friday.

But David Guetta took some time off to relax as he was seen heading out for a fun-filled boat trip with a group of his female pals in Ibiza on Thursday.

The French music producer, 54, made a rare outing without his longterm girlfriend Jessica Ledon, 30, who he has been dating since 2015. 

David showed off his toned physique as he went shirtless in a pair of black board shorts with a red stripe down the side for the outing.

Relaxing: David Guetta took some time off from his busy schedule to relax as he was seen heading out for a fun-filled boat trip with a group of his female pals in Ibiza on Thursday

Looking good: The French music producer, 54, showed off his toned physique as he went shirtless in a pair of black board shorts with a red stripe down the side for the outing

He shielded his eyes from the bright sunshine with a pair of square sunglasses as he topped up his tan, while he opted to go barefoot for the beach day.

David styled his blonde locks in a swept back style and sported a well-groomed beard while he appeared to be in jovial spirits as he laughed and joked around with his pals.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

He was seen socialising with a group of friends as they soaked up the sun on the beach, before they headed out to see to party on a lavish boat, while they also enjoyed a spot of paddleboarding.

As he walked across the picturesque sandy beach, the DJ was seen with his arm wrapped around one of his bikini-clad female pals while he put his hands on another friend's shoulders as they chatted to each other.

Trip: His pals were seen boarding a smaller boat to take them to the short as they partied on a lavish yacht

Smile! David was also seen playing photographer as he paddled in the shallows with two of his male pals and took sun-soaked snaps of his friends while they went for a quick dip in the sea to cool off

As he walked across the picturesque sandy beach, the DJ was seen with his arm wrapped around one of his bikini-clad female pals while he put his hands on another friend's shoulders as they chatted to each other

Day out: He was seen socialising with a group of friends as they soaked up the sun on the beach, before they headed out to see to party on a lavish boat

Sun-soaked: He shielded his eyes from the bright sunshine with a pair of square sunglasses as he topped up his tan, while he opted to go barefoot for the beach day

Splashing around: He also enjoyed a dip in the sea and was seen paddleboarding as he enjoyed the watersport with three of his female pals

Swim: David cooled off with a dip in the sea and showed off his figure as he went shirtless while partying on the boat

Giggling: He was seen chatting and laughing with two of his bikini-clad friends as they had a great time on the boat 

Stunners: One of David's pals sported a vibrant yellow two-piece and he walked with his arm around her as they were joined by other pals

Grinning: One woman was seen pulling a sad face as some of the group headed off on a smaller boat, while the others were seen smiling 

Sunny: David topped up his tan as he strolled along the beach with his friend during the fun-filled day

Group: David joined his pals as they relaxed on the sandy beach amid the glorious weather in Ibiza 

Helping hand: David was seen giving one of his friends a hand as she climbed up the ladder and back on to the boat after enjoying a swim 

Two's company: The French music producer, 54, made a rare outing without his longterm girlfriend Jessica Ledon, 30, who he has been dating since 2015 (pictured 2019)

David was also seen playing photographer as he paddled in the shallows with two of his male pals and took sun-soaked snaps of his friends while they went for a quick dip in the sea to cool off.

He also enjoyed a dip in the sea and was seen paddleboarding as he enjoyed the watersport with three of his female pals, while the group also laughed and partied on the boat. 

It did not appear that his longtime girlfriend Jessica was present during the outing, and it is not known if she has joined her partner in Ibiza for his DJing stint.

David and Jessica began dating in 2015, and last year, it was reported that David had given the brunette beauty a promise ring in lieu of an engagement ring, as he 'no longer believes in marriage'.  

Cheering: David appeared to be in jovial spirits as he put his hands up and waved after arriving on the beach 

Chatting: David was seen chatting away to a group of his friends as they strolled up the beach

Good form: David was seen reaching out and speaking to a group of the friends who sat on another boat and cheered as they got ready to set off

Pals: David was joined by a large group of friends as they explored the beach and soaked up the sun on the boat 

Smiling: David appeared to be in jovial form during the fun-filled outing, while he also showed off his physique as he went shirtless 

Friends: David was seen placing both his hands on one of his friend's shoulders as they chatted while he walked with his arm around another friend 

Scorching: David soaked up the incredible weather with his pals during their daytime outing, before he is set to host another party for Hi Ibiza

Career: David is spending time in Ibiza as he performs as part of his 18-week residency but he took time off to relax on Thursday

Social: One woman was seen wearing a life jacket as she chatted to three of her bikini-clad friends during the outing 

Fun times: David was seen strolling along the beach, enjoying a swim and partying on a boat during the day out

Other half: It did not appear that his longtime girlfriend Jessica Ledon was present during the outing, and it is not known if she has joined her partner in Ibiza for his DJing stint

more videos

Britney Spears leaves little to imagination in latest raunchy video

Man tells Stacey he's built 'silver coin' collection as 'investment'

Agents seen at Diddy's Miami property as hip-hop mogul's homes raided

Rihanna in Seamless Bralette & Boy Short Panty for Vogue China

Usher reveals 'curious things taking place' at Diddy's home

Joey Graziadei proposes to Kelsey Anderson on Bachelor finale

Christina Applegate opens up about '30 lesions' on her brain

Brittany Mahomes opens up about her major struggles with acne

Rufus Sewell reveals 'obsessively' watching Prince Andrew interview

Simon Cowell at America's Got Talent season 19 kickoff

The most emotional moments from Kate Garraway's ITV documentary

Emma Hernan and Chrishell Stause vacation in Cabo San Lucas

Say My Name hitmaker David, who split from his wife Cathy in 2014 after 22 years of marriage, presented the ring to Jessica in 2017 to signify his 'love and commitment'. 

Sparks first flew between the pair when they started dating in 2015. Rumours of an engagement in 2018, sparked after the dazzling diamond sparkler was spotted on her ring finger, were later explained as a promise of 'commitment'.

David and his ex Cathy had been married from 1992 until they decided to part ways in 2014; Cathy had been an important business collaborated throughout the DJ's career.

The pair parted amicably and raise their son Elvis, 18, and their daughter Angie, 14, together.

Photographer: David was seen making memories during the day as he took pictures of his pals enjoying a quick swim in the sea while he paddled in the shallows 

Sunny weather: David soaked up the sun during the outing and was seen standing on the side of the boat looking at the crystal clear sea

Friendly: David's pal put his arm around him as they stood on the side of the boat after cooling off with a swim 

Share or comment on this article: David Guetta goes shirtless as he parties with female pals during a fun-filled boat trip in Ibiza

"friends" look rather hired helping hands

Most watched News videos

• Terrifying footage of Moscow concertgoers fleeing gunmen
• Suspects in Moscow shooting paraded in court battered and bruised
• British man fighting for Putin posts video from Russia online
• Footage shows Queens mom saving daughter from hallway assailant
• Dramatic moment police arrest man after shooting partner in the head
• Moscow terror suspect screams as he is captured by Russian forces
• Sally Nugent hilariously finds out 'hedgehog' is a hat bobble
• Moments after Baltimore bridge struck by a container vessel
• TikToker talks about her experience as a dancer in Washington
• Moment children scream during crush at school gate in Bristol
• Ukraine war doc: Russian soldiers run before drone bomb strikes

Comments 131

Share what you think

• Worst rated

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

• Back to top

Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd

Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group

• by TMZ Staff

Similar News

David guetta.

• by Daniel Kreps
• Rollingstone.com

• by Agency News Desk

• by Just Jared

• by Suzy Exposito

• by Waiss Aramesh

More to explore

Recently viewed.

Ivanka Trump and her daughter Arabella ride horses in Spain

The two were photographed in julio iglesias’ stunning ranch in ojen..

• &description=Ivanka Trump and her daughter Arabella ride horses in Spain" rel="nofollow" data-share="pinterest" title="Share on Pinterest" target="_blank" class="news__social__link">

Ivanka Trump is continuing her Europe trip with a stop in Spain. Accompanied by her family, Ivanka has been photographed in places like Ibiza, enjoying herself in beaches and yachts with some of the most famous people in the world. This past week, she and her daughter Arabella were photographed on a horseback ride in Ojen, Spain, at Julio Iglesias ’ stunning ranch.

Ivanka Trump embraces her ‘surfer girl’ persona

Ivanka Trump parties in Spain behind David Guetta’s DJ booth

Ivanka Trump hangs out with David Guetta on a yacht in Ibiza

• &description=HOLA! USA: celebrity news, royals, entertainment and lifestyle" rel="nofollow" data-share="pinterest" title="Share on Pinterest" target="_blank" class="news__social__link">

Photographs show Ivanka and Arabella wearing a horseback riding attire with all of the proper elements. They’re wearing black helmets, vests, and boots, with white shirts underneath. While Ivanka opted for black pants, Arabella wore white ones. They’re both atop of white horses, and were photographed in different parts of the property.

According to our sister publication HOLA! , Ivanka and family were staying for a couple days in Julio Iglesias ranch, which is called Cuatro Lunas and is located near Marbella.

Ivanka, Julio Iglesias, and his wife Miranda Rijnsburger have established a friendship that dates back years. They’re neighbors on Indian Creek, the Miami area where they live, and have bought properties off of eachother, with Ivanka and Jared Kushner purchasing two properties that were previously owned by Iglesias and Rijnsburger.

Last year, Ivanka and Rijnsburger were photographed with their daughters spending some time together at a private sports club in Miami, showing that they see eachother relatively often.

Is Taylor Swift Related to Famed Poet Emily Dickinson?

Ivanka Trump supports Drake and Lil Wayne at ‘It’s All A Blur - Big As The What? Tour’ concert

Ivanka Trump speaks out after Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnoses: ‘disheartening to see the speculation’

Ivanka Trump steps out in pink dress and nude sandals: ‘Hello Spring’

Ivanka and Donald Trump attend UFC match together

Shakira goes on a dinner date with Lucien Laviscount after her surprise concert in Times Square

Eva Mendes gushes about Ryan Gosling and shares rare anecdote about her daughter

Izabel Goulart and Kevin Trapp show off their beauty and love in Brazil in new adorable snaps

All we know about Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s running mate

Insomnia Festival @ Tradex, Abbotsford (CA)

Encore beach club, las vegas (us), electric daisy carnival, las vegas (us), beachclub, montreal (ca), f*** me i’m famous @ ushuaïa, ibiza (es), david guetta presents future rave @ hï, ibiza (es), francofolies, esch sur alzette (lu), beats for love festival, ostrava (cz), yenikapi festival park, istanbul (tk).