A superstar DJ is a DJ famous enough to be the main reason people buy a ticket, rather than a pleasant extra in the corner of the room.
The idea arrived surprisingly early. In December 1991 the British magazine Mixmag asked, with a question mark, whether the young Sasha might be the first DJ pin-up, and soon afterwards the same magazine ran a cover of him with his hands clasped as if in prayer. The pose was improvised by an exasperated photographer, the caption was supplied by the editor, and Sasha was not amused. By the mid-1990s, as big clubs multiplied across Britain, the most wanted names could play several towns in a single week. Ever since, the job has come with the side effects of fame: posters with fonts sized by popularity, fan banners on the barrier and a fee that is discussed in whispers.