Background and career
Daniel Tenaglia (born March 7, 1961) is an American DJ and record producer.
Tenaglia left New York in 1985 and started DJing in Miami as a resident at Cheers nightclub, playing classic New York and Chicago house. He returned to New York five years later. At this time, he started to create some remixes, including Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" (1991), Jamiroquai's "Emergency on Planet Earth" (1993), and Madonna's "Human Nature" (1994).
Tenaglia's first mainstream success was with a remix of the Daou's "Surrender Yourself" (1993). He then released three label compilations - Mix This Pussy (1994) and Can Your Pussy Do the Dog? (1995) for TRIBAL, and Gag Me with a Tune (1996) for Maxi.
In 1996, after working for a short time at the New York nightclub Roxy, Tenaglia started a Saturday night residency at Twilo. In 1998, he moved his residency to NY club Tunnel. In 1998, Tenaglia released an album titled Tourism. The album featured the track "Elements", which was number one on the Billboard Dance Chart for two weeks in 1998. "Music Is The Answer" featuring Celeda (from Tourism) was on the top 40 charts in the UK. In 1999, Tenaglia released his first installment in the UK-based Global Underground series of DJ mixes titled Athens. In the two years that followed, Tenaglia released another Global Underground installment titled London, remixed Billy Nichols' "Give Your Body Up To the Music", was nominated for a Grammy (for his remix of Depeche Mode's "I Feel Loved," also nominated for Best Dance Song), and won a Dancestar Lifetime Achievement award. In 2003, Tenaglia released Choice: A Collection Of Classics, a two-CD mixed compilation. It featured artists such as Blaze, Adeva and Imagination, along with his own liner notes explaining the significance of each track. He also won another Dancestar award, this time 'Best Party' for "Be Yourself."
In 2025, Tenaglia, along with top Portuguese DJs Yen Sung and Luís Leite, appeared in the Daniel Mota documentary film Paraíso about the history of Portuguese dance music (which he had been involved in for decades). He recounts his remixing of the iconic tribal house song "So Get Up" by Underground Sound of Lisbon (written and vocalized by Ithaka Darin Pappas), and of the moment he debuted the track during a rave held at the Santa Maria de Feira castle in northern Portugal.
Tenaglia continues to play clubs, and has played in NYC locations including Avalon, Crobar, Pacha NYC, Roxy and Webster Hall. In 2007, he participated in the dance parade. In 2008, he released a single on Tommy Boy Records, "The Space Dance". The track reached number 1 on the Billboard Club Chart in November 2008. Immediately following, Tenaglia released his first compilation album in five years, entitled Futurism, also on Tommy Boy Records. The compilation featured tracks from artists including Davide Squillace, The Wighnomy Brothers and Afefe Iku. Tenaglia still continues to tour across the world.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
