It can sometimes be difficult to stand out in an industry that now counts so many talented, committed women, generous in the way they share their music. Artists capable of defending a vision, the vision of their own universe, while creating a genuine connection with their audience. But on 19 July, B Jones showed something that went beyond the scope of her music. On Tomorrowland’s Mainstage, she appeared in all her complexity: powerful and vulnerable, tested by hardship, yet driven by a strength that pierced through the stage.
When she entered the booth overlooking the immense grounds of Boom, Belgium, B Jones was in a wheelchair. The crowd welcomed her with a long ovation. Overwhelmed, the Spanish artist burst into tears, an image that has stayed with us ever since. Seven months earlier, a spinal cord tumor that was later diagnosed as lymphoma interrupted her career and temporarily limited her mobility. She had set herself one goal: to return and perform on that stage. On 19 July, B Jones kept her promise. In the middle of her set, her twin sister Elena joined her to perform their cover of Resistiré, a Spanish classic that has become an anthem of perseverance. A symbol of her victory over the disease.
This moment, which marked our hearts and minds, was also,and above all, the culmination of a journey. A story built on hard work and goals that once seemed impossible to reach. The story of a teenager who arrived in Ibiza at 15 to support her family. Of a young mother who refused to give up on her ambitions. Of a woman who had to establish her legitimacy in this industry. And finally, of an artist who turns her life into music. This is the story of Beatriz Martínez, who became B Jones: a DJ, a mother, a woman and a fighter with many faces. A maker of hope whose melodies express, perhaps better than any words ever could, the need to keep believing in yourself.
Ibiza, Where the First Threads Were Woven
To understand this artist’s strength, we need to go back and retrace the thread of her story. We need to return to Ibiza. And perhaps that is no coincidence, as many great DJs describe their time on the island as a defining moment. Whether or not it was originally connected to music, it is almost as though the island called them there to fulfil their destiny. As we know, Ibiza holds secrets that can be difficult to explain, impossible to perceive and, above all, irreversible.
At the time, B Jones was still simply Beatriz. She grew up in Spain, in an ordinary family where hard work was a fundamental value. At home, determination was not taught through grand life lessons. It was measured through actions. Beatriz quickly understood that nothing would be handed to her on a silver platter:
I come from Spain, from a very normal family where hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance were values that were lived every day rather than talked about. We didn’t have an easy path, and I learned very early on that if you want something in life, nobody is going to hand it to you.
At only 15, she left her everyday life behind and moved to Ibiza. At that point, it was not even about finding her path. It was about financially supporting her family by working as a waitress. A reality that contrasted with her simultaneous, almost mystical discovery of the island where anything seemed possible. All around her, Ibiza celebrated carefreeness. Tourists came to forget about time, dance until dawn and taste the fleeting freedom of a night of intoxication. Bea, meanwhile, stood on the other side of the curtain:
(…) While people were enjoying their holidays, I was working long hours and trying to build a future for myself. It wasn’t glamorous. It was real life. But those years taught me independence, discipline, and the value of hard work. What I love is that Ibiza gave me both sides of the story. It showed me the beauty and magic of music, but it also taught me how much work happens behind the scenes to make those moments possible. In many ways, the island became my school, both personally and professionally.
What Ibiza gave her at that moment was exactly what she needed. Ibiza is often described as an island where energies can be felt. Part of its magic lies in its ability to give people what they need, precisely when they need it. For Beatriz, it was a job that allowed her to help her family. For B Jones, it was an opportunity to learn how to take a first look beyond the stage, and beyond the final result.
Magic never comes from nothing. For the artist, this was the first spark. Ibiza gave her independence before opening the doors to music. A few years later, B Jones became a mother, one of the many roles of her life, one that would shape the woman and push the artist beyond her limits.
Sounds of Motherhood
As is the case for many women, becoming a mother means becoming a fighter. For Bea, motherhood was not disconnected from her musical ambitions. Quite the opposite. Her ambition revealed itself more clearly as she understood that she would no longer be living only for herself. Still Young she returned to Madrid to raise her child :
Motherhood changed absolutely everything. (…)I wanted to show her that no matter where you come from or what obstacles you face, it’s possible to create the life you dream of. Being a mother taught me responsibility, perspective, and strength. There were moments when balancing family life and a growing career felt incredibly difficult, but she became one of my greatest motivations. Every achievement became more meaningful because I knew who I was doing it for.
Music was never far away. She says that she had always been curious about it, almost drawn to it, throughout her childhood. At only 13, before she had even left her family, she already knew deep down that music would become an insatiable passion. She felt drawn towards the tracks she heard, driven by a growing fascination she could not ignore. Becoming a mother was never an obstacle. But entering this world would not be easy. She needed to carve out a place for herself, and, above all, hold on to it.
Make Yourself a Place
Her ambitions needed a concrete path. And what better way to enter the music industry intelligently than to become part of it? Bea became a promoter, joining the many unseen hands that weave the fabric of the party. At the heart of the industry, she discovered the mechanisms connecting an artist, a venue and its audience. What appears to happen with complete spontaneity is actually the meticulous work of those who remain outside the spotlight, yet help bring it to life: “Behind every great event there is a huge amount of work that people don’t always see. (…)”
The experience allowed her to understand the rules of the game she wanted to enter. As she puts it herself: “Working as a promoter gave me an invaluable education. (…)” We know that making a place for yourself is never easy, perhaps even more so today than it was when Bea started. Or perhaps it is simply difficult in a different way.
Some things, however, remain unchanged. The importance of human connection. Of encounters capable of transforming everything. When a single person believes in you, the world feels populated again. Everything began to take shape when she met Vanessa, her manager and, today, undoubtedly one of her closest friends. Doors started to open. Among all those who accompanied her, Vanessa’s presence stood out. In 2012, she gave B Jones her first booking. That first gesture of trust marked the beginning of a relationship that would endure through change, doubt and the passing years:
From that moment until today, we’ve never really been apart. She has been by my side through every stage of my career, through the ups and downs, and I’m incredibly grateful for her trust, support and belief in me from day one. I truly believe no career is built alone, and I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has played a part in my journey.
She does not point to one defining moment that launched her career. It was a gradual construction, shaped by a succession of hard work and perseverance, again. A first booking, then another. One step at a time, Beatriz became B Jones. What had once seemed distant began to take a tangible form. The audience was, of course, at the heart of this rise. It is not difficult to understand why. Watching B Jones perform, she seems to carry another energy alongside her: that of an audience that recognises itself in music that feels profoundly human and deeply rooted in lived experience.
Be music
Nothing can truly prepare a DJ for a meteoric rise. Among the many achievements on B Jones’s list, Tomorrowland undoubtedly holds a special place. That is why, a few weeks ago, the setting carried such powerful symbolism, and why the audience was so moved to see her return. B Jones was the first Spanish artist to perform on Tomorrowland’s legendary Mainstage. For an electronic artist, this stage carries a significance of its own, not only because of its scale, but also because of what it represents. Performing there means entering one of the most highly exposed spaces in electronic music worldwide. It is, without question, a defining mark of success. For B Jones, however, it meant even more: she was the first Spanish artist to take that stage.
It’s difficult to put that moment into words because it represented so much more than a performance. When I stepped onto the Tomorrowland Mainstage, I wasn’t only thinking about myself. I was thinking about every year of sacrifice, every setback, every person who believed in me, and every person who didn’t. Being the first Spanish artist to perform on that stage made it even more emotional because I understood what it represented beyond my own career. It showed that barriers can be broken and that where you come from doesn’t define how far you can go. Even today, every time I walk onto that stage, I feel the same gratitude and responsibility. It’s a dream that never stops feeling special.
Tomorrowland makes years of hard work and determination visible. But B Jones is an artist who represents much more than that. No stage, however impressive, can define an artist in her entirety. B Jones’s identity lies in what she chooses to share with her audience. Mainstage energy balanced with the melodic and emotional depth of her trance-influenced sound. Behind the undeniable power of her productions lies the ambition to make her audience dance, but above all, to make them feel. How could we not think of Infinity or Now we Are Free? Productions that reveal something even more precious in an artist: her ability to pour her emotions into a track and move between musicality and technical precision:
“(…)I want people to dance, but I also want them to feel something. The records that stay with us are often the ones that combine emotion and energy.”
This balance also shapes much of her musical journey. Sensitivity without sacrificing power. She reaches for the collective strength of the dancefloor. What she gives through her sets is inseparable from what she experiences. As she says herself, she wants the dancefloor to feel her strength, her positivity and a mutual sense of connection: “I want people to leave my sets feeling inspired, energised and emotionally connected.”
Remaining loyal to one’s artistic identity is no easy task when the music industry continues to grow and, above all, to evolve towards an increasingly fluid mix of genres. Audiences move on. What fills a Mainstage one year may disappear the next. For B Jones, evolving means remaining curious without allowing the industry to rewrite her identity:
I stay curious and open-minded, but I always trust my instincts. Trends come and go, but authenticity is what lasts. I try to evolve without losing sight of who I am as an artist.
What emerges from all of this is music that remains firmly rooted in the present precisely because it stays authentic. Every melody carries something of the mother, the promoter, the waitress, the young woman and, finally, the artist.
When she looks back at the road she has travelled, B Jones does not place numbers or major stages at the centre of her pride. She thinks first of all the moments when she could have given up. And of the fact that she kept going.
(…) What makes me most proud is that I never gave up. There were countless moments when things didn’t go as planned, moments when the easy option would have been to walk away. But I kept going. Step by step. Year after year. If there’s one thing my story proves, it’s that persistence is incredibly powerful. I wasn’t the person with the easiest path, but I stayed committed to my dream. And honestly, knowing that my journey might inspire someone else to keep believing in theirs is probably the achievement that means the most to me.
The young girl who arrived in Ibiza at 15 could not yet have imagined everything that awaited her. Motherhood. The nights spent working. The first stages. Tomorrowland. Then illness, the absolute determination to overcome it and return to the spotlight to send it spinning away. If B Jones could speak to that young girl today, she would not reveal any part of the story ahead. She would simply ask her to believe in herself a little more.
I would tell her: ‘Trust yourself more. There will be moments when you feel lost, afraid, or unsure of what comes next. There will be people who doubt you and situations that seem impossible to overcome. But don’t stop believing. Every challenge, every sacrifice, and every tear will eventually become part of a beautiful story. Keep working. Keep dreaming. Keep moving forward. One day, you’ll realise that everything you went through helped make you exactly who you were meant to become.
It is also the message she shares with the young women who now dream of finding their own place as artists. Not to try to reproduce someone else’s path, because there is room for every singular story:
Believe in yourself, be patient and stay authentic. Focus on developing your craft and don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s. The most important thing is to stay true to who you are.
Her hardships did not make B Jones an artist in spite of herself. They gave depth to her art. Hope, strength and connection. Music does not erase hardship, it gives it a body through which it can be embodied. From Beatriz to B Jones, every thread of her story carries the trace of a battle, of the one person who believes in you, and of a dream you never allow yourself to abandon.
These few lines are our way of paying tribute to the artist, the woman and the hope she keeps alive through her music.
No hardship should ever have the power to write the ending on its own.
📷 : Cover Photo Credits : Courtesy of B Jones
📷 : Additional Photo Credits : Courtesy of B Jones