Widely regarded as one of the originators of the Dutch Anthem Trance sound, the group have produced a number of dancefloor hits since their conception.
There Be Light",[4] "This World Is Watching Me",[5] "The Anthem 2003" (originally released under the alias "Sensation"),[6] "Such Is Life",[7] "Symfo" [8] and "Wild And Perfect Day".
[43] A year later this track was released as "Such Is Life", with added vocals by Shanokee and chosen as the anthem of Sensation 2001, the first edition where visitors were asked to appear dressed in white.
[50] By the end of the year, Rank 1 finally released their single Symsonic under the new title "It's Up To You", with Shanokee asked to provide vocals once more.
[52] 2004 the release of the Symsonic album sampler titled "Unreleased Tracks" which contained extended mixes of "Conspiracy", "Cosmomatic" and "Down From The Deep".
However, the crowd's reaction to it was so immense that Piet and Benno decided to release it as an official track called "Top Gear".
This would happen over the summer with another two-track EP:[58] "Opus 17" was present at the flipside and was a moody Trance track unlike its unique heavy Techno-Techtrance influenced B-side.
[56] In this interview he stated that their second album was in progress and that they had made quite some diverse tunes for it, including a breaks track with the potential title "2 Drunk 2 Funk".
Piet also clarified about the mysterious unreleased and untitled "Rank 1 vs. Marco V" collaboration track that was also mentioned in the FAQ section of their old website.
[56][60] There were no official single releases during 2006 but in 2007 both "This World Is Watching Me" (with Armin van Buuren and Kush[61]) and "Life Less Ordinary" (with Alex M.O.R.P.H.
[64] The track was officially released in February 2009, with remixes by Wippenberg, Marcel Woods as well as an alternative "Laserlight Rework" by Rank 1 themselves.
This track received remixes by Marcus Schossow and The Prime Sins, as well as a more House-driven "Rank 1's That Side Mix".
[68] In 2010, Rank 1 and Miller released another collaboration which was chosen as the theme to the Polish Entrance 2010 event called "The Great Escape".
[70] On February 11, Benno tweeted there would be an alternative non-Trance Rank 1 Remix of The Great Escape but as of 2024, this version has not been revealed.
The two singles to follow this "radio silence" were released in February and March respectively, with the Trouse driven "Wild And Perfect Day" providing their third collaboration with Jochen Miller (with vocal support by Sarah Bettens).
[79] After various cryptic Facebook and Twitter updates alike,[80][81] on the 15th of October they finally revealed that their third 2012 release would be a Rank 1 solo track called "7 Instead Of 8".
[84][85] This single was released by the end of January 2013 and received much positive feedback for its Classic Trance vibe and was even rated an 8.5/10 by the DJ Mag.
[88] A month later the Rank 1 Remix for Italian Trance artist Giuseppe Ottaviani's single 'Love Will Bring It All Around' was released.
[92] On August 8, their track Airwave was re-released in a modern 129 BPM rework to celebrate 15 years of the Rank 1 project:[93] 'Airwave (21st Century Mix)' peaked at #4 in the BeatPort Trance Top 100 chart.
A couple of weeks later it turned out that the guys had indeed teamed up again for a third collaboration which they named "Zenith": it was premiered by Markus Schulz on his Global DJ Broadcast radioshow.
[101] At the end of May 2016, Rank 1 used a cryptic tweet to reveal a new single: it merely read "03.06.2016" and was accompanied by coverart depicting a highway at dawn.
Then, on July 7, 2017, Rank 1 revealed that they would be part of the Dreamstate SoCal line-up, a multi-day Trance event that would take place in the final weekend of November.
For the celebration of the 950th episode of his radioshow, Armin decided he wanted to do something special so he asked Piet & Benno if they were interested in doing a liveshow at the Jaarbeurs to which they agreed.
[116] Over the course of July 2021, 15 years after This World Is Watching Me, Armin and Rank 1 released a second collaboration titled 'The Greater Light To Rule The Night'.
[118] Around mid-April 2022, Armin announced his upcoming mix compilation A State Of Trance 2022 which would premiere Aly & Fila and JES - Sunrise (Rank 1 Remix).
[129] Things would remain quiet until September 2024 when Benno announced he was exploring new directions and launched a new project called BnO in the process.
[134] In the first week of February 2025, various artists such as W&W, DJ Photographer and Bobina premiered the promo for Rank 1's brand new single "Strobo" on their radioshows, the original was complemented by the slightly faster and harder "Deeper Dub Mix".