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ILLENIUM (real name — Nicholas Daniel Miller; born December 26, 1990, in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA) — is an American DJ, music producer, composer and songwriter. He is one of the most prominent artists in contemporary melodic bass, blending future bass, melodic dubstep and EDM with pop-punk, alternative rock and live instrumentation.
ILLENIUM gained widespread recognition through the albums Ashes and Awake, while 2019's Ascend cemented his commercial breakthrough. Among his best-known recordings are «Feel Good» with Gryffin and Daya, «Fractures», «Crawl Outta Love», «Good Things Fall Apart» with Jon Bellion, «Takeaway» with The Chainsmokers and Lennon Stella, «Nightlight», «Shivering» with Spiritbox, «All That Really Matters» with Teddy Swims and «In My Arms» with HAYLA.
The album Fallen Embers earned the musician his first Grammy nomination and won the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Album. During the 2020s, ILLENIUM also brought his music to stadium scale with the Trilogy concert series, while in 2026 he released his sixth studio album, ODYSSEY, and premiered a purpose-built audiovisual show at Sphere in Las Vegas.
Childhood and Early Musical Interests
Nicholas Daniel Miller was born on December 26, 1990, in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. His family moved several times during his childhood: he spent part of his early years in the San Francisco Bay Area and also lived for a time in Seattle and France.
Miller's musical interests as a teenager extended far beyond electronic music. He listened to rock, pop-punk, hip-hop and music favored by his family, including country.
Rock later became one of the defining influences on ILLENIUM's sound. Live guitars, pop-punk vocalists and post-hardcore elements regularly appear throughout his albums alongside synthesizers and bass drops.
First Experiments with Production
Miller began making music while still in high school. Around 2008, he experimented with GarageBand, although at the time he did not yet consider music production a future profession.
His serious interest in electronic music began around 2009 while he was living in San Francisco. He was initially drawn to house and trance, but after moving to Colorado his attention shifted increasingly toward bass music.
He taught himself how electronic tracks were constructed, tried to reproduce production techniques used by artists he admired and gradually moved on to professional music software.
Overdose and Recovery
One of the most important periods in ILLENIUM's biography is connected with drug addiction.
As a young man, Miller became dependent on opioids. He later said in interviews that by the time his addiction reached a crisis point he was using heroin intravenously and had already undergone several forms of treatment.
In 2012, he survived a near-fatal heroin overdose. The episode became a turning point: afterward, Miller began rebuilding his relationship with his family and gradually restructuring his life.
Electronic music became part of that recovery process. Miller has repeatedly said that making music gave him both a purpose and something into which he could fully immerse himself.
The image of the phoenix, which later became ILLENIUM's logo, took on a deeply personal meaning for him — destruction, recovery and the beginning of a new life.
Bassnectar at Red Rocks
In the summer of 2012, Miller saw Bassnectar perform at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.
ILLENIUM later described the concert as one of the events that convinced him to pursue electronic music professionally. He was impressed not only by the production itself, but also by the sense of community surrounding Colorado's bass scene.
After that concert, he began taking Ableton Live and music production much more seriously.
Moving to Colorado
In 2013, Miller permanently relocated to Colorado. He initially spent some time living in the mountains before eventually moving to Denver.
He enrolled in a music business-related program at the University of Colorado Denver but did not complete his studies. To cover his expenses, he worked as a sushi delivery driver and lacrosse coach.
At the same time, he devoted increasing amounts of time to studio work and began connecting with other musicians in Denver's electronic music scene.
Among his early friends and collaborators was Said The Sky — Trevor Christensen, who would later work with ILLENIUM repeatedly and become part of his live setup.
First EPs
On May 20, 2013, ILLENIUM released his first record, the Illenium EP, through Prep School Recordings.
The three-track EP included:
- «A Million Pieces»;
- «Daydream»;
- «Escape» with Marilyn Lindquist.
On January 14, 2014, he followed with the independently released EP Risen. It included «Up», «For Truth», «Souls» and «Drop Our Hearts» with Sirma.
At that stage, ILLENIUM's sound had not yet developed the fully defined structure of his later albums, but it was already built around emotional melodies, atmospheric intros and heavy bass sections.
Remixes and a Growing Audience
Between 2013 and 2015, ILLENIUM released remixes extensively. Artists whose tracks he reworked included Florence + The Machine, Lana Del Rey, ODESZA, Galantis, Kill Paris and Kaskade.
These productions circulated through SoundCloud and electronic music blogs, helping him build his first independent audience.
In 2015, he also released «Chosen You», «Painted White» with Said The Sky and Cristina Soto, and «I'll Be Your Reason», released through Skrillex's NEST platform.
Ashes
On February 15, 2016, ILLENIUM released his debut studio album, Ashes, through Seeking Blue and Kasaya.
The album fully established the sound with which his name first became associated by a wider audience: melodic dubstep and future bass, emotional vocal performances, long atmospheric intros and a strong contrast between restrained verses and expansive drops.
The album included:
- «Reverie» with King Deco;
- «Fortress» with Joni Fatora;
- «With You» with Quinn XCII;
- «Sleepwalker»;
- «It's All on U»;
- «Spirals» with Sound Remedy;
- «Only One»;
- «Afterlife» with Echos.
Ashes reached No. 6 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
«Don't Let Me Down» and «Say It»
In 2016, ILLENIUM released several remixes that significantly expanded his international audience.
His version of The Chainsmokers — «Don't Let Me Down» became particularly popular. ILLENIUM completely reworked the track's electronic production while keeping Daya's vocals, turning the song into a heavier melodic bass production.
Another important release was his remix of Flume — «Say It» featuring Tove Lo.
This period transformed ILLENIUM from a fast-rising American bass producer into an artist with a clearly established international audience.
Awake
His second studio album, Awake, was released on September 21, 2017.
It became a more song-driven and emotionally cohesive continuation of Ashes. While his debut largely showcased Miller's production style, Awake relied more heavily on vocal songs and the dramatic flow of the album as a whole.
Key recordings included:
- «Fractures» with Nevve;
- «Crawl Outta Love» with Annika Wells;
- «Leaving» with EDEN;
- «Lost» with Emilie Brandt;
- «Let You Go» with Ember Island;
- «Beautiful Creatures» with MAX.
The album also featured Gryffin and ILLENIUM's collaboration «Feel Good» with Daya.
Awake reached No. 3 on Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums and became the first ILLENIUM studio album to enter the Billboard 200.
Live Format
During the Awake era, ILLENIUM's concert format began to differ significantly from a conventional DJ set.
He started incorporating live instruments extensively. Said The Sky joined selected performances on keyboards and electronic drums, while Dabin played guitar and other instruments.
Miller himself also played guitar and electronic drums.
This format allowed him to combine the structure of a rock concert with electronic production, later becoming the foundation of his large-scale tours.
Ascend
On August 16, 2019, ILLENIUM released his third album, Ascend — his first full-length release on major label Astralwerks.
The album became the biggest commercial breakthrough of his early career.
Ascend reached No. 1 on Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums and climbed to No. 14 on the Billboard 200.
Key tracks included:
- «Good Things Fall Apart» with Jon Bellion;
- «Hold On» with Georgia Ku;
- «Crashing» with Bahari;
- «Blood» with Foy Vance;
- «In Your Arms» with X Ambassadors;
- «Sad Songs» with Said The Sky and Annika Wells;
- «Gorgeous» with Blanke and Bipolar Sunshine.
The same period also produced «Takeaway», a collaborative single by The Chainsmokers and ILLENIUM featuring Lennon Stella. The track appeared on The Chainsmokers' album World War Joy and became one of the most commercially successful recordings to feature ILLENIUM.
Ascend Tour and Madison Square Garden
The Ascend Tour became ILLENIUM's first full arena-scale concert production.
The tour included a performance at Madison Square Garden in New York, multiple Red Rocks dates and major venues across North America.
The live show combined electronic music, guitars, drums, keyboards, vocalists and specially produced visual content.
By this point, ILLENIUM had definitively moved beyond being solely a club DJ: his main live format increasingly resembled an electronic version of a rock show.
«Take You Down» and the Theme of Addiction
«Take You Down» holds a special place in ILLENIUM's catalog.
Miller connected the song directly to his own experience with drug addiction and the impact his condition had on the people closest to him.
Unlike many ILLENIUM songs in which the personal story remains hidden behind a guest vocalist, here the biographical context was explicitly identified by the artist himself.
This openness later became part of his public work around overdose prevention.
The Pandemic and Fallen Embers
During the COVID-19 pandemic, ILLENIUM worked on an album without constant touring for the first time in years.
The result was his fourth studio album, Fallen Embers, released on July 16, 2021.
The title continued the phoenix imagery of his first albums, although Miller himself viewed the new project as the beginning of a new chapter.
The album included:
- «Nightlight» with Annika Wells;
- «Paper Thin» with Tom DeLonge;
- «Hearts on Fire» with Dabin and Lights;
- «First Time» with iann dior;
- «Sideways» with Nurko and Valerie Broussard;
- «Blame Myself» with Tori Kelly;
- «Heavenly Side» with Matt Maeson;
- «Brave Soul» with Emma Grace.
Fallen Embers debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
Grammy and Billboard Music Awards
Fallen Embers earned ILLENIUM his first Grammy nomination.
At the 64th Grammy Awards in 2022, the album was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album. The award ultimately went to Black Coffee for Subconsciously.
That same year, Fallen Embers won the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Album.
Trilogy
In 2021, ILLENIUM introduced a new concert concept called Trilogy.
The first show took place on July 3 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Over nearly four hours, the artist performed three separate sets dedicated to Ashes, Awake and Ascend, while also previewing material from the forthcoming Fallen Embers.
For Miller, Trilogy symbolized the completion of the first major cycle in his discography.
On June 17, 2023, the concept was brought to Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. Around 50,000 people attended, and the event was promoted as the largest electronic concert in Colorado history.
In February 2024, Trilogy continued with two sold-out concerts at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
ILLENIUM — the 2023 Album
On April 28, 2023, ILLENIUM released his fifth studio album, ILLENIUM.
The self-titled name reflected Miller's intention to present the most complete version of his musical language.
Rather than returning exclusively to future bass, he pushed the fusion of electronic music with pop-punk, alternative rock, metalcore and post-hardcore even further.
The album featured:
- «All That Really Matters» with Teddy Swims;
- «Worst Day» with MAX;
- «From the Ashes» with Skylar Grey;
- «Lifeline» with jxdn;
- «Eyes Wide Shut» with Avril Lavigne and Travis Barker;
- «Shivering» with Spiritbox;
- «You Were Right» with Wooli and Grabbitz;
- «Other Side» with Said The Sky and Vera Blue;
- «With All My Heart» with JVKE;
- «Back to You» with All Time Low;
- «Nothing Ever After» with Motionless In White;
- «Luv Me A Little» with Nina Nesbitt.
The album once again reached No. 1 on Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums.
Rock and Heavy Music
The album ILLENIUM demonstrated more clearly than ever how strongly rock and pop-punk continued to influence Miller from his teenage years onward.
Rather than simply layering guitar over an EDM arrangement, Miller began collaborating directly with musicians from the alternative and heavy music scenes.
His catalog came to include Spiritbox, Motionless In White, All Time Low, Avril Lavigne, Tom DeLonge, Travis Barker and other artists whose music existed well outside the traditional EDM environment.
ILLENIUM did not, however, shift entirely into rock: heavy guitars and live drums remained integrated alongside melodic bass, dubstep and contemporary electronic pop production.
End Overdose
ILLENIUM's personal experience with addiction led him to work with the organization End Overdose.
During tours, the organization trained concertgoers to recognize overdose symptoms and use naloxone — a medication capable of temporarily reversing the effects of an opioid overdose.
Miller spoke openly about his own history, emphasizing that his case was not an accidental exposure to an unknown substance at a festival: it involved an established opioid addiction.
This work became a practical extension of the theme of recovery that had long been present in ILLENIUM's visual identity and phoenix symbolism.
Move to Republic Records
After a period with Warner Records, ILLENIUM began a new phase of collaboration with Republic Records.
During 2024–2025, he released standalone singles while simultaneously preparing his next major album.
Releases from this period included «Not Even Love» with Seven Lions and ÁSDÍS, as well as «In My Arms» with British singer HAYLA.
The latter became one of the first major singles leading into ODYSSEY.
ODYSSEY
On February 6, 2026, ILLENIUM released his sixth studio album, ODYSSEY — his first full-length release through Republic Records.
The album contains 19 tracks, with featured artists spanning electronic, pop, rock, metal and hip-hop.
Guest artists include:
- Mako;
- Tom Grennan;
- Ryan Tedder;
- Elley Duhé;
- HAYLA;
- Ellie Goulding;
- Bring Me The Horizon;
- LØ Spirit;
- Zeds Dead;
- Dean Lewis;
- Lauren Alaina;
- Bastille;
- Dabin;
- Kid Cudi;
- Alok.
Key tracks include «In My Arms», «Don't Want Your Love», «Slave to the Rithm», «With Your Love», «Feel Alive», «To the Moon» and «Not Ordinary».
The Sound of ODYSSEY
ODYSSEY does not return ILLENIUM to any single period of his career.
The album places melodic bass, progressive electronic music, house, drum and bass, rock and heavy electronic-guitar hybrids side by side.
«Slave to the Rithm» with Bring Me The Horizon combines electronic production with the dynamics of a heavy band, while «Don't Want Your Love» with Ellie Goulding sits closer to electro-house.
«Not Ordinary» with Kid Cudi incorporates elements of alternative rock and drum and bass, while «In My Arms» with HAYLA returns to the expansive emotional bass aesthetic most closely associated with the ILLENIUM name.
ODYSSEY on the Charts
ODYSSEY debuted at No. 1 on Billboard Top Dance Albums.
It became ILLENIUM's fourth consecutive album to top the U.S. dance albums chart, following:
- Ascend;
- Fallen Embers;
- ILLENIUM;
- ODYSSEY.
On the Billboard 200, the album reached No. 45.
ODYSSEY at Sphere
For the new album, ILLENIUM created a dedicated audiovisual production titled ILLENIUM Presents ODYSSEY at Sphere in Las Vegas.
The initial run consisted of nine shows in March and April 2026. A separate visual narrative was created for Sphere's massive interior screen with the participation of Berlin studio Woodblock.
ILLENIUM became the second electronic artist to headline Sphere after Anyma.
Demand was strong enough to add two additional shows on July 3 and 4, 2026.
The production was conceived not simply as a concert tour for the new album, but as a standalone work designed around Sphere's technical capabilities: panoramic visuals, spatial audio and precise synchronization between music and visual storytelling.
Releases After ODYSSEY
Following the album's release, ILLENIUM continued putting out music outside its tracklist.
On March 20, 2026, he released «Die Living» — a collaborative single by ILLENIUM, David Guetta and country singer Dustin Lynch.
On August 7, he released «When The Light Breaks» with longtime collaborator Said The Sky and singer Heather Sommer. The track returns the musicians to melodic bass while also incorporating trance and dubstep elements.
On September 9, 2026, Marshmello and ILLENIUM released «Close My Eyes» featuring SACHA. Despite the two producers having known each other for years and despite existing remixes, it became their first original collaboration.
Musical Style
ILLENIUM is often associated with melodic bass, future bass and melodic dubstep, although his discography extends far beyond those definitions.
His early releases were built around emotional synth melodies and bass drops. Ascend strengthened the pop-song element, Fallen Embers became more restrained and reflective, while ILLENIUM brought pop-punk, alternative rock and metal to the foreground.
ODYSSEY combines these directions with house, trance, drum and bass and other forms of contemporary festival electronic music.
The most consistent features of his music include:
- the contrast between quiet intros and expansive climaxes;
- melodic synthesizer parts;
- strongly emotional vocals;
- live guitars and drums;
- the use of bass music as part of a song structure rather than solely a club format;
- themes of loss, addiction, recovery, relationships and hope.
The Phoenix
The phoenix has become ILLENIUM's central visual symbol.
His first three studio albums — Ashes, Awake and Ascend — are regarded by the musician himself as an informal trilogy connected with a cycle of birth and rebirth.
The image also has autobiographical significance. After his overdose and recovery, Miller viewed his own life as an opportunity to begin again.
Fallen Embers completed the original symbolic storyline, while the later ILLENIUM and ODYSSEY exist beyond that initial trilogy.
Studio Albums
- 2016 — Ashes;
- 2017 — Awake;
- 2019 — Ascend;
- 2021 — Fallen Embers;
- 2023 — ILLENIUM;
- 2026 — ODYSSEY.
Major EPs
- 2013 — Illenium EP;
- 2014 — Risen;
- 2015 — Painted White — with Said The Sky and Cristina Soto;
- 2020 — Ascend (Tour Edits).
Awards and Major Achievements
- 2022 — Grammy nomination for Fallen Embers in the Best Dance/Electronic Music Album category;
- 2022 — Billboard Music Award for Fallen Embers as Top Dance/Electronic Album;
- four consecutive No. 1 albums on Billboard Top Dance Albums — Ascend, Fallen Embers, ILLENIUM and ODYSSEY;
- Ascend reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200;
- the stadium-scale Trilogy series in Las Vegas, Denver and Los Angeles;
- two sold-out Trilogy shows at SoFi Stadium in 2024;
- the ODYSSEY run at Sphere in Las Vegas in 2026;
- gold and platinum certifications for several singles in the United States.
Creative Journey
ILLENIUM's career developed from independent EPs and SoundCloud remixes to No. 1 albums on Billboard's dance chart and stadium-scale electronic productions. Yet the central idea behind his music has remained largely unchanged: electronic production is used not only for rhythm and festival impact, but also as a vehicle for emotional storytelling.
His personal experience with addiction and recovery shaped an important part of the project's symbolism, but his later discography expanded far beyond a single autobiographical theme. ILLENIUM has consistently broadened his musical language — from future bass and melodic dubstep to pop-punk, metal, house and drum and bass, while retaining his characteristic approach to melody and vocals.
By 2026, ODYSSEY, the Sphere shows and new collaborations with artists from different genres marked another stage in that evolution: ILLENIUM continues to operate simultaneously as an electronic producer, songwriter and large-scale live artist.
