Ultra Music Festival adds Paul Van Dyk and Benny Benassi to Lineup

The 2006 Ultra Music Festival 8 adds more headliners including Hot Hot Heat, Paul van Dyk, Hard-Fi, Carl Cox, BT, Benny Benassi and more. Full details here.

The world famous Ultra Music Festival announced today that Hot Hot Heat, Paul van Dyk, Hard-Fi, Carl Cox, Perry Farrell, Danny Tenaglia, Richie Hawtin, Mauro Picotto, Armand van Helden, DJ Hell, BT, Benny Benassi, Nic Fanciulli, Meat Katie, Grooverider and Donald Glaude have joined the all-star lineup for their 8th installment of the festival. These artists join previously announced headliner The Prodigy, along with Paul Oakenfold (live) and Erick Morillo. The event will be held on Saturday, March 25, 2006 at Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami.

Formed in 1999 and hailing from Victoria, B.C., Hot Hot Heat will be making their UMF8 debut appearance headlining the Ultra Live Arena. Touring last year with Weezer and the Foo Fighters, this indie synth band has earned critical acclaim for song such as “Goodnight, Goodnight.” Their latest album Elevator combines 60s mod rock, 70s progressive and 80s new wave punk into their own unique dance music and their hit single “Middle of Nowhere” is quickly rising up the charts.

Making his 8th appearance at the UMF, legendary German DJ Paul van Dyk was recently named #1 DJ in the world by DJ Magazine. A proven leader of his genre, van Dyk was one of the first artists to receive a Grammy nomination in the newly added category of Best Dance/Electronic album for his 2004 release Reflections. His latest album The Politics of Dancing Volume 2 was released last year and remains in the top 20 Electronic Album charts.

Hailing from West London, Hard-Fi just received two Brit Award nominations: Best British Group and Best British Rock Act. Their 2005 debut album release of Stars of CCTV and their single “Cash Machine” enjoyed immediate commercial success and their sound is being called “Diska,” a merging of disco, punk and dub music. Hard-Fi was recently profiled on MTV’s “You Hear it First” and currently are topping the UK Charts.

Washington DC native BT burst onto the music scene with his amazing remix of Tori Amos' "Blue Skies." Since then, he has parlayed his passion for music into composing the soundtracks for such films as Monster and Jarhead. He also served as Executive Producer on the hit NBC reality show "Tommy Lee Goes to College." Meanwhile, Italian dance sensation Benny Benassi is making his 1st appearance at UMF8. Perhaps best known for his smash hit single "Satisfaction," his music and energy has been burning up the dance floors across the globe.

UMF8 also sees the return of Lollapalooza creator Perry Farrell, aka DJ Peretz, and techno genius Richie Hawtin who will be coming fresh off his duty as composer and producer of the Torino Olympic Games' Opening Ceremony on February 10th.

Last year, UMF 7 sold out downtown Miami's Bayfront Park and made history by drawing a record number of attendees and landed a coveted position in Billboard Magazine as the #3 top-grossing event in the United States, following only behind U2’s Vertigo Tour Kick Off and Elton John's concert. Previous UMF performers include Moby, Tommy Lee, Perry Farrell, The Streets, Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, Paul van Dyk, The Crystal Method, Tiesto, Carl Cox, Sasha, John Digweed, Danny Tenaglia, Rabbit in the Moon, The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem and more. Celebrity fans of UMF include Ricky Martin, P Diddy, Naomi Campbell, Colin Farrell and Tara Reid.

Related Links
· Official Ultra Music Festival Site